To understand why some meat factory workers chose to work through Covid-19 during the worst peaks of the pandemic, encouraging the spread of the virus in workplace clusters of up to 200 cases, you need to understand the underlying conditions surrounding their jobs. While Part 1 of our investigation touched on the industry’s overall poor health and safety record, another main concern for workers is pay. The average wage for a meat operative is €22,000/year while a more skilled carcase deboner would get €27,500/year. When it comes to preventing Covid-19 infections, what becomes more important is what workers live on when…

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