Shocking Revelations on Tyson Managers' Cruel Indifference to Workers and the Complicity of Iowa's GOP Governor

As the coronavirus ripped through a pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa earlier this year Tyson Foods supervisors not only kept the facility open — they also placed bets on how many workers would catch the virus.

More than 1,000 employees eventually tested positive amid the outbreak, which eventually shut down the meat-processing plant and spurred harsh condemnations from local officials who said the company had failed to provide the necessary protections for its workforce.

Isidro Fernandez, who worked in the Waterloo facility, was one of the workers who fell ill in April. He died on April 26 from complications of covid-19, the lawsuit says. At least five other employees at the plant died, the Associated Press reported.

Fernandez’s son, Oscar Fernandez, sued Tyson Foods earlier this year over the conditions in the plant and allegations that the company misinformed workers about the extent and severity of the outbreak.

In addition to failing to properly prevent the spread of the virus, Tyson Foods managers turned the risk into a game.  One of the plant managers “organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19,” according to the lawsuit.  A Tyson spokesman declined to comment on the allegations-- surely an instance when silence speaks volumes. 

“This shocking report of supervisors allegedly taking bets on how many workers would get infected, pressuring sick workers to stay on the job, and failing to enforce basic safety standards, should outrage every American,” United Food and Commercial Workers International Union president Marc Perrone said.

After the allegations in the lawsuit made national news, Tyson Foods suspended top officials at the Waterloo plant and launched an investigation.  The company’s president and CEO, Dean Banks, said he was “extremely upset” about the allegations, saying they do not represent the company’s values. He said Tyson has retained the law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an investigation, which will be led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

“If these claims are confirmed, we’ll take all measures necessary to root out and remove this disturbing behavior from our company,” Banks said in a statement.  Banks said the accused managers have been suspended without pay. He traveled to Waterloo to explain the company’s response to its workers.

Gov. Kim Reynolds is now being accused by the local newspaper of being complicit in  the unconscionable and callous conduct on the part of the Tyson plant management, all the while top executives lobbied for liability protections. Reynolds and her administration stood by and mimicked the company’s line that everything was fine, as hundreds of workers got sick.

Managers told workers they had a responsibility to stay on the job to ensure that Americans didn’t go hungry, even while they started avoiding the plant floor themselves because they were afraid of contracting the virus, the lawsuits allege. They increasingly delegated responsibilities to low-level supervisors with no management training or experience.

One upper-level manager, John Casey, ordered a sick supervisor who was leaving to get tested to get back to work, and told others they and their subordinates had to keep working even if they had symptoms, the lawsuits allege. Casey allegedly told workers the virus was the “glorified flu” and “not a big deal” because everyone would get it.

Plant management directed language interpreters to tell the sizable non-English-speaking workforce that “everything is fine” at an April meeting, according to an amended complaint filed on behalf of the families of four workers who died.  Managers also told workers that county officials had “cleared” the plant-- even though the Black Hawk County Health Department  had instead urged Tyson to close the facility to protect workers.

In reality, local public health officials and County Sheriff Tony Thompson had urged the company to shut down the plant, when they found workers still shoulder to shoulder-- with many not wearing face coverings.

An April 11 complaint about the plant came to Iowa OSHA. The case was swiftly closed on April 28 with no on-site inspection. Reynolds later said OSHA’s action to close the case without an inspection was appropriate-- and later telling reporters on April 20 she opposed a shutdown.  In a conference call also on April 20 with Reynolds, according to the lawsuit, top Tyson executives downplayed the outbreak and exaggerated safety measures.  Reynolds bought it.

“I’ve been on the phone with the CEO and the management team for all Tyson plants to talk about what they’re doing proactively to make sure that they’re protecting their workforce…,” Reynolds told reporters that day. Two days later the stricken plant shut down.

Companies act irresponsibly when they know no one will hold them accountable. Tyson knew Reynolds, a reliable ally of big agricultural interests — with campaign donations to prove it — would raise no objection to exploiting workers. With lives in the balance, Reynolds picked pork and profits over people.