Last year, Tyson Foods shuttered a meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The company said it made the decision because the plant was old and inefficient. But the closure was devastating for the residents of Perry. The plant had employed some 1200 workers in a town with a population of only 8000.
At the same time, Tyson was also busy hiring workers elsewhere. It was working with a non-profit group that helps connect companies with asylum seekers and refugees looking for work. Tyson ultimately hired hundreds of new workers through this partnership.
Was this just a coincidence? Or were these two stories actually one story – a story about one of the country’s biggest meat processors forcing out American workers and replacing them with migrants? On today’s show we take a look at the controversy surrounding Tyson’s hiring moves and how things look from the perspective of the workers themselves.
Today’s episode was hosted by Carlos Garcia and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee and edited by Keith Romer with help from Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money‘s executive producer.
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Music: Universal Production Music – “Let’s Do,” “Floating Ideas,” and “Goodie Bag”
