MILAN — Smithfield Foods' presence in northern Missouri has been a blessing and a curse.
In the case of the small town of Milan, now home to one of Smithfield’s massive hog processing plants, the corporation’s residency has turned a once traditional northern Missouri town into an anomaly — a rural community that not only gained population following the farm recession in the 1980s but also became more diverse.
Despite environmental and worker safety concerns, the plant has revitalized the small town and undeniably become the heart of the city, attracting residents from across the world with the promise of work.
The plant
Just over 30 miles west of Kirksville and around 120 miles north of Columbia, Milan lies isolated in the rolling plains of north-central Missouri.
The Smithfield Foods plant looms over the city, only a short drive from the town square.
Passing the extensive driveway, at a first glance, the plant may appear to be a prison — barbed wire fencing and security posts surround the structure, and workers gather in the courtyard on their breaks.
Double-decker 18-wheeled trucks, packed tail to tail with sniffling hogs, can be seen turning up the driveway throughout the day.
The only notable adornments on the property are the weathered American flag draped along a stretch of wire fencing and a giant statue of a hog.
Formerly owned by Premium Standard Farms, Inc., the pork processing plant in Milan first opened its doors in the 1990s.
Meat processing plants in the United States have a long-standing history of attracting an international workforce. Between 1980 and 2000 the percentage of Hispanic meat-processing workers increased from under 10% to almost 30%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Part of the Smithfield Foods plant on Tuesday, April 5 in Milan. The hog processing plant has contributed to Milan's diverse population.
When Premium Standard Farms, Inc., opened the pork processing plant in Milan, it was no different.
Axel Fuentes, executive director of the Rural Community Workers Alliance, moved to Milan in 2007 to work with immigrants in northern Missouri, especially those employed in the meat processing industry.
“What I hear from local people that have been here for many years, they said that in 1995, there were only two Latino families in this area,” Fuentes said. “Then when the company got established here, they started to recruit people everywhere — Texas, California, Virginia, from everywhere, and that's how more Latinos started to come to this area.”
Smithfield Foods “attracts international talent (through a) thoughtful approach to implementing nonimmigrant visa hiring programs and events,” Jim Monroe, vice president of corporate affairs at Smithfield Foods, said in written comments.
Their approach takes three things into consideration: opportunity, access and accountability.
“We provide opportunities for international talent to obtain good paying jobs by reaching out to overseas colleges, universities, business partners and, domestically, with resettlement agencies and community partners that support refugees and/or asylum seekers,” he wrote. “We provide access to personal and professional development resources like ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and Step Programs that offer an ability to explore career paths and receive the training needed to obtain other roles and promotions.”
At the plant in Milan, the primary role of most employees is working on the processing line, Monroe wrote. The average starting wage is $20.67 per hour.
Recently, the employment opportunities at Smithfield Foods in Milan have drawn individuals from other regions of the world.
“Now we have people from Africa... and Central Americans are more around here now,” Fuentes said.
Many of the town's residents have noted a recent increase in individuals from Africa, specifically from The Democratic Republic of Congo.
“There are people up here from Senegal, Guinea, Eritrea, Congo... and a couple of people from Ethiopia,” Fuentes said. “Most of them are working in Smithfield.”
Barbed wire fences surround Milan's hog processing plant on Tuesday, April 5 in Milan. The plant was once operated by Premium Standard Farms, Inc.
Working on the line
Working in any processing facility can be a taxing job. From the constant repetitive motions and fast-paced movement required to keep up with a company's demand, many in the industry sustain injuries that last well beyond their time as employees.
A current Smithfield employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said when the corporation started raising the speed of the processing lines he punctured his colleague's hand.
“It used to be 7,400 (hogs) and now it’s 10,500 (per day),” he said. Monroe declined to disclose the number of hogs processed per day at the plant.
Another Smithfield employee, who worked on the maintenance crew, said while she was working a large piece of machinery fell on her head. She said she was in a coma for three days.
She was recently terminated from the plant, Fuentes said.
Even after the rehabilitation process, she noted that she has never been the same.
A third Smithfield employee, who had complications with her pregnancy, said when she returned to work after losing her child, she was not allowed to leave the processing line and use the restroom when she unexpectedly got her first period after the loss.
Not only was she denied access to use the restroom, she was also made to explain the circumstances to supervisors.
Restroom breaks have been a large area of concern for many workers, Fuentes said.
“I hear from women… that they actually were wearing diapers (while working), especially during their period,” Fuentes said.
Others have told him “I asked for permission to go to the bathroom, and after an hour, nobody came to take my place, and I couldn't make it to the bathroom,” he said. “It is very common to hear from people that they are suffering from urinary tract infections.”
Through a Freedom of Information Act request with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Missourian obtained a report showing complaints and inspections at the plant.
Over the past five years, OSHA issued a total of $8,129.70 in fines against the corporation for some hazardous workplace conditions, the record states.
No fines were issued following the inspections of the plant regarding COVID-19 safety. However, the Missourian reported early in the pandemic that employees were being forced to work without adequate personal protective equipment. Later that same day, the plant issued masks.
Restaurants, shops and a library on Tuesday, April 5 in downtown Milan. Milan experienced an increase in population when the Smithfield Foods plant opened.
“Smithfield has cooperated with OSHA as they conducted their investigations into the complaints,” Monroe wrote. “Smithfield encourages workers to speak up with any worker safety concerns or ideas that may impact or improve safety conditions to their supervisor, human resources or upper management without any fear of reprisal.”
A worker hotline is also available to those who would like to raise a concern anonymously, he wrote.
“They know that that hotline exists. Maybe not all the workers, but I will say that many workers know about that hotline,” Fuentes said. “The workers don't trust (the hotline) and they don't see the company do something when they file complaints through that hotline.”
For some employees, the plant in Milan has better working conditions than previous plants they have been employed in.
Rogelio Elisalde García, a 68-year-old Milan resident, came to Milan for work before Smithfield’s takeover.
For years he worked at the plant, packing hogs on the line until retiring two years ago. His experience at the plant varied.
Though he was never directly injured on the job, in retirement he now struggles with sciatica preventing him from working and making daily life painful.
García moved to Milan after working in Los Angeles, where injuries on the job were more common and life more dangerous. There, he saw criminal activity and death, and was almost killed twice himself.
After his negative experiences on the West Coast, adapting to Milan when he arrived in 2000 was relatively seamless, he said, as there was already a growing Hispanic community in town. His wife joined him soon after, and they had two children in Milan.
When Premium Standard Farms, Inc, was operating the Milan plant, workers, such as García, came from all around the country for employment and the offer of free housing.
Although the housing conditions were questionable, the offer brought many new workers to Milan, Fuentes said.
“I’ve seen, with these eyes, very confined apartments,” Fuentes said. “Twelve, 14 people in one-bedroom apartments.”
Fuentes said he doesn’t hear of Smithfield offering housing to workers to bring them to Milan these days.
“That means now," he said, "people are coming on their own.”
Connor Giffin contributed to this report.
A truck used to carry hogs next to an American flag on Tuesday, April 5 in Milan. The Smithfield Foods plant has prompted concern over its effects on the environment and the safety of the employees.
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