Roughly 100 Illinois pork plant workers left the Smithfield Foods facility in Monmouth after a co-worker died during an overnight shift, with employees raising concerns about the decision to resume production.
Patou M. Mpinda, 44, a maintenance worker, was pronounced dead at about 2:31 a.m. on 14 September in what Warren County Coroner Al McGuire has said appeared to be work-related, though the final cause of death remains pending.
