Calls to Break Up 'Big Meat' as Nearly 900 Workers at Single Tyson Processing Plant Test Positive

[TexasTowelie]

Calls to Break Up 'Big Meat' as Nearly 900 Workers at Single Tyson Processing Plant Test Positive for Covid-19


As hundreds of workers at a Tyson meat plant tested positive Thursday for Covid-19—days after the president ordered meat processing plants to remain open—one advocacy organization demanded a break-up of the nation's "big four" meat producers, saying the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the deep-seated issues of a highly centralized food system.

The group, Nebraska-based Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), says the current system in which four companies—Cargill, JBS, National Beef, and Tyson—control more than 80% of the nation's beef supply must be overhauled.

"What the COVID-19 pandemic response has shown us is that the biggest links in our food supply chain are the weakest," Ben Gotschall, interim executive director of OCM, in a statement Thursday.

"In the interest of our economic, food, and national security," he continued, "the United States needs to remove these weak links by breaking up the Big Four meatpackers and taking steps to ensure that we never again reach today's harmful level of market concentration."

Read more: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/01/calls-break-big-meat-nearly-900-workers-single-tyson-processing-plant-test-positive

One of the few times in recent months that I've agreed with an article on Common Dreams.

[Agschmid]

1. How many total workers at this plant?

[Tanuki]

5. 2,200 employees, so about 40% have tested positive (so far)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1197776

..."The Cass County Health Department's administrator, Serenity Alter, said 890 employees at the plant have tested positive so far, and that a couple of hundred of others still need to be screened.

Hli Yang, a spokeswoman for the company, said the Logansport plant employs 2,200 people. She declined to confirm the number who have tested positive for the virus.

"Since this is an ever-changing situation, we are not disclosing the number of confirmed cases associated with a plant," she told NBC News.

Yang said Tyson plans to resume limited production at the Logansport facility next week, following a plant tour with local health and government officials, a union representative and medical professionals. Tyson made the announcement in a joint statement with the city, county health department and local officials."...(more)

[pecosbob]

2. Taking advantage of disasters is more typically a Republican thing...

but from one perspective, the oligarchy in this nation is closer to being displaced and dispossessed than ever before in my lifetime. If people were able to bring about a general strike we could demand the world. It isn't going to happen, but the thought is nice to entertain for a moment.

[DBoon]

3. We need to revive anti-trust enforcement

Our economy and political system cannot be controlled by a few mega corporations

[Indykatie]

4. 4300 Workers at the Dakota KS Tyson Plant

Plant closed for 4 days for "deep cleaning".