Workers, officials say too little too late after Tyson closes Waterloo pork plant: ‘All they talked about was production’

CNN — After more than a week of public pressure, Tyson announced Wednesday morning it will “indefinitely suspend operations” at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant that employs 2,800 people. In a statement, Tyson told CNN the plant, which is the company’s largest pork plant, had already “been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism.” “Despite 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,” said Tyson Fresh Meats Group President Steve Stouffer in the statement. Tyson said that “for the privacy of our team members we are not disclosing numbers of confirmed cases in our facilities.” Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN the plant should have been closed sooner. “I hear the argument of, we’ve got to keep the food supply chain open,” the cut floor worker said, but “with all these tests coming back, if the numbers get up there, it warrants a shutdown.” Several other meat processing plants across the country, including a Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a JBS meat processing plant in Worthington, Minnesota, have closed temporarily after suspected outbreaks were reported. Reynolds explained Monday that because Tyson has been “complying” with infection control measures, “I don’t believe it’s going to take an executive order at this time.” “They are critical infrastructure and it’s essential that we do everything we can to protect the workforce while keeping these processing plants up and going,” Reynolds said last Friday.