Alabama chicken plant makes employees pay for masks as they work 'elbow to elbow' during pandemic: report

A Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama is taking heavy criticism from some of its employees who say they're being forced to work in unsafe conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Reuters reports that workers at the Wayne Farms plant "recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And even workers who do wear masks aren't safe, plant meat inspector Mona Darby tells Reuters, because everyone is forced to work in tight quarters.

"My life is in jeopardy because we’re working elbow to elbow," she says.

Wayne Farms spokesman Frank Singleton tells Reuters that the company is working to provide more protective equipment for its employees, and says that he hasn't personally heard about any workers being charged extra for masks.

Marc Perrone, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, tells Reuters that many of the workers he represents feel torn between doing their jobs to put food on American families' tables and looking out for their own personal health during a deadly pandemic.

"If we don’t take care of the food supply, the American people are going to panic," he says.