In May 2020, the German government announced a new law aiming at a
prohibition of the use of subcontracted, outsourced and/or temporary
labour in the core parts of abattoirs and meat processing plants. Since
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry saw repeated plant
closures, as in many countries worldwide, due to both mass infections
of workers, given the lack of health and safety regulations in the workplace,
and dismal accommodation provided to the predominantly migrant workforce. Based on interviews conducted as part of a larger research
project at the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI),
this article examines the labour disputes and social conflicts impinging
on the German meat industry during the COVID-19 crisis.