Tyson Fresh Meats Temporarily Pausing Production at Dakota City, Neb, Beef Plant
April 29 2020 - 7:38PM
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson
Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), is currently winding down production and
will temporarily pause operations Friday, May 1 through Monday, May
4 at its Dakota City, Neb., beef facility to complete a deep
cleaning of the entire plant. The company has been working closely
with the local health department and is also in the process of
screening plant team members for COVID-19 this week, with
assistance from the Nebraska National Guard.
The facility, one of the largest beef processing plant in the
country, employs a workforce of 4,300 and normally produces enough
beef in one day to feed 18 million people, however with increased
absenteeism over the last few weeks the company has scaled back
production. While the plant is temporarily idled, and in
collaboration with UFCW Local 222, team members will continue to be
compensated and asked to continue following CDC guidance such as
social distancing, persistent hand washing and wearing of facial
coverings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Team member safety has and continues to be top priority for us
and we’re grateful for our team members and their critical role in
helping us fulfill, to the best of our ability, our commitment to
helping feed people in our community and across the nation,” said
Shane Miller, senior vice president & general manager beef
enterprise, Tyson Fresh Meats. “We’ve been focused on COVID-19
since January when we first formed a company coronavirus task
force. Since that time, we’ve implemented numerous measures
to protect workers and, at times, have gone beyond CDC guidance.”
Tyson Foods was one of the first food companies to start taking
worker temperatures and has installed more than 150 infrared
temperature scanners in its facilities. The company started efforts
to secure a supply of facial coverings before the CDC recommended
them and now requires and provides them for all team members in all
facilities. Last week a team from the University of Nebraska
Medical Center, working with local health officials, toured the
facility and were able to see preventive measures the company has
implemented to enhance the safety of its team members. “We have a
dedicated health and safety team working with local, state and
federal health officials and our facility operations team to make
timely decisions about operations,” said Miller. “Our decisions on
resuming operations during this challenging time will continue to
be based on team member safety.” Tyson Fresh Meats voluntarily
idled its pork facilities in Waterloo and Perry, Iowa, and
Logansport, Ind. and beef facility in Pasco, Wash. while team
members undergo screening and plants complete deep cleaning of the
facilities. The company’s other meat and poultry plants currently
continue to operate, but some are running at significantly reduced
levels of production due to the planned implementation of
additional worker safety precautions.
About Tyson FoodsTyson Foods, Inc. is one of
the world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in
protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three
generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio
of products and brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire
Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp® and State
Fair®. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more
sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it’s available and raise
the world’s expectations for how much good food can do.
Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 141,000 team
members. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate
with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers,
communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals,
land and environment entrusted to it.
Visit TYSONFOODS.COM.
Media Contact: Liz Croston,
605-235-3657, liz.croston@tyson.com
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