Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant this week.<\/p>\n
The facility, the company\u2019s largest pork plant, has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism, and will stop production mid-week until further notice. The facility\u2019s 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtecting our team members is our top priority and the reason we\u2019ve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time,\u201d said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. \u201cDespite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers,\u201d Stouffer said. \u201cIt means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation\u2019s pork supply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Affected Waterloo team members will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed. The timing of resumption of operations will depend on a variety of factors, including the outcome of team member testing for COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Tyson Foods has been focused on COVID-19 since January when it formed a company coronavirus task force. It has since implemented numerous measures to protect workers. It was one of the first food companies to start taking worker temperatures. The company started efforts to secure a supply of protective face coverings before the CDC recommended them and now requires their use in all facilities. In an effort to promote social distancing, plants like Waterloo have installed workstation dividers and are providing more breakroom space.<\/p>\n
Tyson Foods\u2019 other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production either due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions or worker absenteeism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant this week. The facility, the company\u2019s largest pork plant, has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism, and will stop production mid-week until further notice. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5409,"featured_media":139391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[4530],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n