Tyson Foods is facing new accusations from conservative group America First Legal (AFL) of discriminating against US citizens by disproportionately hiring immigrants, including children and people in the country illegally. AFL has sent letters to the US Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and an Iowa civil rights agency, calling for investigations into Tyson's employment practices. The group alleges that Tyson has taken advantage of a sharp increase in illegal border crossings to build a pool of cheap labor. Tyson employs 42,000 foreign workers, making up more than one-third of its US workforce. Tyson Foods has not yet responded to the accusations.
This comes after false claims spread online that Tyson Foods is planning to hire 52,000 people who came to the US illegally, leading to boycott calls against the company. Conservative influencers and politicians have been leading the boycott, despite Tyson Foods clarifying that it has no plans to hire workers without legal authorization. The company requires all of its workers to have legal permission to work in the country. Tyson Foods currently has approximately 120,000 employees in the US and has between 6,000 to 9,600 open positions. In 2022, Tyson committed to hiring 2,500 refugees in the US over three years as part of the Tent Partnership for Refugees. The false claims appear to have originated from a misquote in a Bloomberg article. Tyson recently announced the closure of a pork processing facility in Perry, Iowa, but this decision is unrelated to its hiring efforts at other facilities. Tyson Foods does not operate in New York and has no plans to do so.
Tyson Foods is accused by America First Legal (AFL) of discriminating against American residents by favoring the employment of immigrants, particularly youngsters and those in the country illegally. AFL has sent letters to the US Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and an Iowa civil rights organization, requesting investigations into Tyson Foods' employment standards. AFL claims that Tyson Foods employs 42,000 foreign workers, accounting for more than one-third of its US workforce, and actively participates in recruitment programs. Tyson Foods denies the allegations and states that it does not discriminate against Americans in favor of immigrants. The Justice Department, the EEOC, and the Iowa agency have the option to investigate the accusations and potentially reach an agreement with Tyson or file a lawsuit. This is the first instance of AFL charging bias against American workers, as they have previously filed complaints against large US firms for alleged discrimination in diversity programs. The EEOC has not commented on whether it is looking into the allegations. [834d9f68]
In addition to the accusations, a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Iowa, which employed 25 percent of the town's workers, has been closed indefinitely due to a COVID-19 outbreak. The plant had 186 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its employees. The closure of the plant has raised concerns about the local economy and the impact on the town's residents. Tyson Foods has implemented additional safety measures at its other facilities to prevent the spread of the virus. [12c8e8ff]