Arkansas Tyson workers sue over lack of protections against COVID-19 – 4029tv
JOINS US LIVE NOW WITH T HE COMPANY’S RESPON. SE THIS IS THE REPORT THAT HOUSE LAWMAKERS RELEASED TODAY. .. SHOWING HOW TYSON AND OTHER COMPANIES WORKED TO PERSUADE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO KEEP POULTRY PLANTSPEN. O.. WHILE COVID-19 SPREAD AMONG WORKERS. <> “they knew what they were doing. They know that they were sacrificing workers for the sake of profits. And that’s what these reports really talks about.” A REPORT FROM A SPECIAL HOUSE CORONAVIS RU COMMITTEE RELEASEDN O THURSDAY NAMES FIVE OF THE LARGEST MEAT-PACKI NG COMPANIES – INCLUDING TYSON FOOD S. IT CLAIMS THOSE COMPANIES WORKED WITH THE TRUMP WHE IT HOUSE – ON AN EXECUTIVE ORDER – TO FORCE MEATPACKING EMPLOYEES TO KEEP WORKING – IN DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. IT ALSO SAYS THE COMPANIES LOBBIED AGGRESSIVELY TO BE TO BE ABLE TO BYPASS COVID PRECAUTIONS IN THE WORKPLACE… AND SUINLATED THEMSELVES FROM ANY KIND OF LIABILITY. THE REPORT FROM THE SUBCOMMITTEE SHOWS DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC, NEARLY 60,000 MEATPACKING WORKS ER BECAME SICK WITH COVID-19 NATIONWIDE, AND 269 WORKERS DI. ED “the many workers got sick during the first year of t he pandemic, companies should be held accountable for” MAGALY (mah-gah-LE E) LICOLLI (lee-KOE-lee) IS THE FOUNDER OF VENCEREMOS, AN ARKANSAS POULTRY WORKERS’ RIGHTS GROUP. SHE SAYS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, WORKERS WERE DEMANDING PROTECTIVE ACTIONS. IS TH IS áVIDEO FROM A VENCEREMOS DEMONSTRATION IN SEPTEMBER OF 20-21. TYSON DECLINED 40/29’S INTERVIEW REQUEST, BUT ISSUED A STATEMENT, SAYING IN PAR T: “Throughout the pandem ic our top priority has been and continues to be the health and safety of our team members. Over the past two years, our company has been contacted b y, received direction from, and collaborated with ma ny different federal, state and local official” s BUT LICOLLI SAYS… TH IS RESPONSE IS WHAT’S áMOST CONCERNING… <> “despite all the evidence, the emails, everything that is there – the government exposes ts hi truth – that they’re still not taking a ny responsibility and rather saying that they were doing stuff thatea rlly didn’t do anything to protect the workers health and safety.” (10:46-:50) “he had so many hopes and dreams of what his future was going to be after working so hard.” NANCY CRUZ SAYS HER FATHER – JESUS LOVATO-MOLINA – WORKED AT THE VAN BUN RE TYSON PLANT FOR 27 YEARS BEFORE HE DIED IN JULY 20-20 FROM COVID-19. <> (6:44-:56) “he was just wo rried about making ends meet. It’s a pandemic. Let’s be real, you know, he wanted to work. Yes, he s, wa I’m sure concerned, but he had to pay his bills, like any one of us” IT WAS NEREV CONFIRMED THRU CONTACT TRACING THAT H ER DAD CONTRACTED COVID AT THE PLANT. BU T, CRUZ SHE SAYS SHE THINKS TYSON SHOULD HAVE TAKEN MORE MEASURES TO PREVENT THE SPREAD – LIKE SHUTTING DOWN THE PLANT TO SANITI. ZE (6:13-:23) “he told me it’s ki ondf hard to like, be protect, like,s a protected as you want to be here. Because there’s hundreds of people. Whene w get out on lunch, there’s so LICOLLI WITH VENCEREMOS SAYS THIS REPORT OPENS UP
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Arkansas Tyson workers sue over lack of protections against COVID-19
Updated: 2:28 PM CST Mar 7, 2023
Thirty-four Tyson Foods employees, former employees and family members filed a lawsuit against the company Monday, saying it failed to take appropriate precautions at its meat-packing plants during the early days of the COVID pandemic.In the lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Tyson’s home state of Arkansas, the plaintiffs said Tyson’s negligence and disregard for its workers led to emotional distress, illness and death. Several of the plaintiffs are the spouses or children of Tyson workers who died after contracting COVID.A message seeking comment was left for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson.VIDEO ABOVE: Tyson, other meatpacking companies, focus of House report on COVID-19 lobbyingMeat-packing facilities were early epicenters of the COVID epidemic in the U.S., with employees working closely together on the production line. At least 59,000 meat-packing workers contracted COVID-19 and 269 workers died in 2020, according to a U.S. House report issued in 2021.The lawsuit claims Tyson knew about COVID as early as January 2020, when the virus was spreading through its facilities in China. On March 13 of that year, the lawsuit said, Tyson suspended all business travel and mandated that all non-critical employees at its corporate office work remotely. But at the five Arkansas plants where the plaintiffs or their family members worked, Tyson didn’t provide masks or allow work modifications to allow for social distancing until late April 2020, the lawsuit said. The company also didn’t perform contact tracing or quarantine infected workers, the lawsuit said.The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages.The lawsuit isn’t the first to target Tyson over its COVID protocols. In late February, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by Tyson to move a case in Iowa to federal court. Tyson argued that federal officials wanted it to keep the company’s plants running, citing an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump designating meat processing as essential infrastructure. But a federal appeals court judge ruled last year that Tyson can’t claim it was operating under the direction of the federal government. The case filed by family members of Tyson employees who died of COVID __ has been sent back to Iowa state court.
Thirty-four Tyson Foods employees, former employees and family members filed a lawsuit against the company Monday, saying it failed to take appropriate precautions at its meat-packing plants during the early days of the COVID pandemic.
In the lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Tyson’s home state of Arkansas, the plaintiffs said Tyson’s negligence and disregard for its workers led to emotional distress, illness and death. Several of the plaintiffs are the spouses or children of Tyson workers who died after contracting COVID.
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A message seeking comment was left for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson.
VIDEO ABOVE: Tyson, other meatpacking companies, focus of House report on COVID-19 lobbying
Meat-packing facilities were early epicenters of the COVID epidemic in the U.S., with employees working closely together on the production line. At least 59,000 meat-packing workers contracted COVID-19 and 269 workers died in 2020, according to a U.S. House report issued in 2021.
The lawsuit claims Tyson knew about COVID as early as January 2020, when the virus was spreading through its facilities in China. On March 13 of that year, the lawsuit said, Tyson suspended all business travel and mandated that all non-critical employees at its corporate office work remotely.
But at the five Arkansas plants where the plaintiffs or their family members worked, Tyson didn’t provide masks or allow work modifications to allow for social distancing until late April 2020, the lawsuit said. The company also didn’t perform contact tracing or quarantine infected workers, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages.
The lawsuit isn’t the first to target Tyson over its COVID protocols.
In late February, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by Tyson to move a case in Iowa to federal court. Tyson argued that federal officials wanted it to keep the company’s plants running, citing an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump designating meat processing as essential infrastructure.
But a federal appeals court judge ruled last year that Tyson can’t claim it was operating under the direction of the federal government. The case filed by family members of Tyson employees who died of COVID __ has been sent back to Iowa state court.
