The role of public sector unions in food safety renews a debate that began 90 years ago

It was President Franklin D. Roosevelt who, in 1935, signed the Wagner National Labor Relations Act, which became the foundation for modern collective bargaining through unions. But FDR had one caveat: He did not believe in public sector unions.

If FDR were alive today, it follows that he might agree that public animal health and food safety inspectors shouldn’t carry union cards. And President Donald J. Trump,  by Executive Order, is removing some federal jobs with a national security concern from collective bargaining.

Jobs with both the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service are being listed as national security posts, according to media reports. The Safe Food Coalition is pushing back on the move with the argument that excluding food inspectors from collective bargaining would expose the critical public health workforce to political influence and  “industry capture.”

The Coalition is a partnership of consumer, public health, research, and labor organizations that advocates for improvements to the food safety system.  It includes several of the nation’s most prominent food safety leaders. They fear that food safety will be compromised if union contracts with thousands of FSIS food safety workers are terminated.

 “Since it was created in 1986 to advocate for consumer protections against E.coli O157:H7 in ground beef, the Safe Food Coalition has partnered with labor leaders in recognition of the fact that safe workplaces are essential to foster a culture of food safety,” said Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Federation of America. 

“Without union protections, government inspectors will be less likely to hold accountable meatpacking and agribusiness companies — many of which have deep ties to the Administration.”

“Food safety inspectors work closely with UFCW members in meatpacking and food processing plants to make sure the meat, poultry, and eggs that reach families’ tables are safe to eat,” said United Food & Commercial Workers International Union President Milton Jones. “This decision doesn’t just erode labor rights – it damages the public’s trust in the safety of our food supply.”

 “This decision will undermine food safety, plain and simple,” said Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy, Consumer Reports. “If incidents like the Listeria outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats have taught us anything, it’s that inspectors need more incentives to speak out, and this does the opposite.”

 “FSIS inspectors are the first line of defense against foodborne illnesses linked to meat and poultry products,” said Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness and former Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA. “Any steps that eliminate the protections they deserve will harm all of us.” 

“FSIS inspectors, many of whom work day in, day out in the same meatpacking facility, face tremendous pressure to ‘go with the flow’ and avoid taking action that would interfere with business,” said Andrea Meza, Director of the Food Integrity Campaign at the Government Accountability Project. “This decision removes a key protection for inspectors that take their duties seriously, undermining confidence in their ability to do their work.”

Union representatives often step in when an employee is in dispute with management. A recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Colorado provides one such example.

In her six years battling managers to make new hires and production floor workers go through the minimally required safety training at the JBS beef plant in Greeley, CO, Salima Jandali did, at one point, get an assist from her union representative. She was included, with two other safety trainers, in a formal union grievance alleging that the company discriminated against employees based on their race, color, religion and national origin. 

The case of Jandali v. JBS is pending.

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