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More than 100 workers have walked out of a Smithfield Foods meat plant following a colleague’s death in the early hours of the morning.
Workers reportedly left after management ordered production to continue as normal. It has been reported that this was the fourth death at the plant, Smithfield Monmouth in Illinois, US, but the first caused by a machine.
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According to WGEM, one Smithfield Foods worker said employees were initially informed of a “late start” via text message on Monday, September 14, at approximately 5.30 am. When team members arrived at work around 7.30 am, they were told that Patou Mpinda, a 44-year-old maintenance employee, had been killed in a “workplace incident.” The coroner has since confirmed that Mpinda died around 2.30 am, and that the cause of death appeared to be work-related.
The worker who spoke to WGEM said, “I had coworkers in the lunchroom crying and people so stressed that they were yelling at the plant manager: ‘Listen to your people! Why are we here? We shouldn’t be working!’” Despite this, employees were informed by a supervisor that production would run as normal. The worker reported telling the supervisor, “‘I will not be working, I will be calling in and leaving.’ “
The worker said, “I got sick to my stomach and I just didn’t feel right as a person being there,” and added, “That’s kind of disgraceful, not only to the employee who had passed, but to all employees of the company, and to his friends and family. No respect, making the employees work after that had happened. Like he was just a number.”
‘Amputation hazards’
According to the worker, at least 100 people left for the day in a plant-wide walkout. Smithfield Foods later said workers were given the option to leave with no penalty and released a statement saying the company was “deeply saddened” by the death.
Per WGEM, officials have said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA) and local authorities are investigating Mpinda’s death.
Following an anonymous complaint in February, OSHA inspected the plant and fined Smithfield Foods $9,931.60 after observing workers’ exposure to “amputation hazards.” This was preceded by serious citations in 2021, 2023, and 2025.
Working in a slaughterhouse is extremely dangerous. In the US, there are approximately two amputations per week, primarily due to the industry’s poor working conditions and excessively fast pace.
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‘Community concerns,’ waste, and odour at Smithfield Foods plant
One week after Mpinda’s death, Smithfield Foods leaders addressed Monmouth City Council. The leaders said Smithfield Foods has remained in close contact with Mpinda’s family, offering support through benefits and by covering childcare costs.
As reported by KWQC, the leaders also acknowledged “community concerns” over a backlog of rendering material – animal waste, internal organs, and decaying meat – being stored outside the plant, causing a strong, unpleasant smell in the city.
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