Teamsters authorize strike at Tyson Foods amid wages, benefits negotiations

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – Teamsters Local 577 members at Tyson Foods, the largest beef processing plant in the United States, voted by a 98% margin to authorize a strike. According to the Teamsters, the strike was authorized amid efforts toward higher wages and improved benefits for 3,100 workers at the facility.

“We are bargaining with one of the most repulsively greedy and amoral corporations in the entire country. Last year, Tyson’s CEO made 525 times that of the median worker,” said Al Brito, President of Local 577. “This facility is essential to the beef supply chain, but if Tyson’s corporate leadership doesn’t start demonstrating some basic humanity, we will be forced to take action.”

Union representatives said it has filed of unfair labor practice charges against Tyson Foods for alleged labor law violations. Union representatives also alleged that in the past month, “management has harassed union stewards, coerced injured employees into dropping claims, illegally interrogated union members, and falsely told workers at the facility that if they engaged in a ULP strike they would lose their jobs.”

The strike authorization comes after Tyson Foods employees voted this week on whether or not to strike if negotiations with the company fell through. One Teamster member who spoke with MyHighPlains.com on Thursday stated that two-thirds of employees at the facility have no retirement, no pension and no 401K.

“We’re not just fighting for more money,” said Keisha Carey, a member of the Tyson Teamsters Negotiating Committee, in the strike authorization announcement. “We’re tired of seeing people suffer. We’re tired of seeing people hurting. We’re tired of seeing the elites who run this company have no compassion for the workers who make them rich. We’re ready to strike this company if they don’t give us the deal we deserve.”

Negotiations with Tyson Foods have been noted as ongoing.