American Meat Workers Are Starting to Quit With Plants Reopening

America’s meat-processing plants are starting to reopen, but not all workers are showing up. Some still fear they’ll get sick after coronavirus outbreaks shut more than a dozen facilities last month. Employees are taking leave, paid and unpaid -- or just quitting.

At a JBS USA plant in Greeley, Colorado, absenteeism is running as high as 30%. Before the pandemic, it was about 13%. The company is paying about 10% of the workforce -- people deemed vulnerable -- to stay home. Others aren’t coming in because they are sick.

But some workers are staying home because they are “scared,” according ...