The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 70/No. 10           March 13, 2006  
 
 
Tyson shuts down two Nebraska plants
 
BY EDWIN FRUIT
AND HELEN MEYERS  
NORFOLK, Nebraska—The owners of Tyson Fresh Meats have closed two beef plants in northeast Nebraska. Workers were given notices by supervisors on the morning of February 15. The company told the 365 workers at the West Point slaughter plant the factory would close that day. The 1,300 workers at Tyson’s processing facility here in Norfolk were told their last shift would be two days later. Tyson is the largest employer in the two cities.

Workers at the Norfolk plant are members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 271. Last September Somali workers there led a walkout of 300 to protest the bosses’ denial of prayer breaks and the firing of 10 workers for “unauthorized breaks.” About half the workers in the plant are Somali-born, while many others are from Sudan and Mexico. The union won prayer breaks in the contract signed with the company in December.

Dina Tovar, who worked at the Norfolk plant, told the Militant, “We employees make the product and do everything in the plant whether the supervisors are there or not. Without us they can do nothing and now they put us in the street.” Most workers had not expected the closings. New employees had started work at the plants as recently as two weeks ago and 50 were hired in the last month. Thirty-two Sudanese workers were brought to West Point by Tyson two months ago.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said shutting down the plants “was a business decision.” Company officials project the factory closings will save the owners $40 million per year.

Tyson is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, pork, and beef. Company officials said they will move work from the closed plants to Tyson’s slaughter and boxed-beef factory in Dakota City, Nebraska. An 84,500-square-foot expansion is projected to be completed in March with a workforce of 3,600.

It is reported there will be 400 new jobs in Dakota City and 150 each at the Lexington, Nebraska, and Emporia, Kansas, plants. Marvin Harrington, president of UFCW Local 222 in Dakota City, said that even with these openings there would still be about 1,000 left without work. “They’re going to limit the number [they hire], that’s for sure,” he said. He added that he doesn’t believe Tyson is done with restructuring in the Midwest.

Tyson officials have stated they will comply with federal law, which requires companies to provide pay and benefits to workers for 60 days if less than 60 days’ notice has been given for a shutdown. There will be a $5,000 moving bonus for those rehired by Tyson. The money is to be given out over several months and is dependent on workers completing probation in their new position.

Said Yousuf, vice president of UFCW Local 271 in Norfolk, told the Militant, “We have heard that the company will pick which workers can transfer to their plants, giving preference to those with very skilled jobs and records without any problems such as injuries or attendance.” He said a union representative from Omaha had come to the plant to give out applications for a UFCW-organized poultry plant, but the bosses had refused him access to the plant. “The union was growing in strength, reaching close to 70 percent since the new contract was signed in December. Now much of the community here will be torn apart because so many of us work at Tyson and small businesses here depend on the Tyson workers,” said Yousuf. He noted that the Somali community in Norfolk numbers around 900, with some 600 employed by Tyson.

Edwin Fruit is a member of UFCW Local 1149 and works at Tyson in Perry, Iowa.
 
 
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