Tyson Foods was recognized for by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) this week for the protective measures it implemented against COVID-19.
“LULAC’s number one priority is taking every action we can to protect tens of thousands of workers to the fullest extent possible with what we know about the virus,” Domingo Garcia, National President of LULAC, said in a statement after a walk-through of the company’s Springdale, Arkansas processing facility this week..
“What we have seen confirms Tyson is making significant changes and investments to improve worker safety and America’s food supply. LULAC will work with Tyson Foods and other meat processing companies that are taking every possible step to protect their employees. Our joint goal needs to be helping save as many people as possible from COVID-19."
LULAC is the largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization for Hispanic Americans in the U.S. More than half of the COVID-19 cases in meat and poultry plants occurred in Hispanics, according to May 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Worker safety
During the tour, Garcia emphasized a series of community demands centered around five areas of concern: regular free testing of all workers for COVID-19, complete personal protection equipment, line speed to labor adjustments, compensation for infected workers undergoing care, and assistance to families who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.
Noel White, CEO of Tyson Foods, highlighted the specific operational measures the company enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These included temperature checks for employees, instructional signage in multiple languages, a policy requiring masks, social distance marker placements, dedicated cleaning for common areas and hands-free water and sanitizer stations.
“We’ve worked with LULAC for many years and appreciate President Garcia’s willingness to take time to meet with us and learn about health and safety efforts. We’ve implemented protective measures – from symptom screenings and face masks, to workstation dividers and social distance monitors,” Tyson Foods said in an e-mail statement.
“We’ve also used testing as a tool and have likely been involved in more testing than any other company in the country. Results from these tests have allowed us to find team members who have the virus but don’t have symptoms and would not otherwise have been identified.”
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