Tyson Foods To Permanently Close Perry Pork Plant, Leaving 1,276 Without Jobs

Tyson Foods, a household name in the meat industry, has decided to close one of its pork processing facilities in Perry, Iowa. The plant, which employs over 1,200 local residents, will shut its doors permanently in June. The closure comes as another difficult challenge for the small city still coping with the aftermath of a tragic school shooting earlier this year that left three teenagers dead.

The Perry community will take a major economic hit with the loss of jobs from the Tyson Foods plant. Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh acknowledged the facility serves as the city’s largest employer and a pillar of the local economy. In addition to the plant workers who will be out of a job, the city as a whole will feel the effects of nearly 1,300 residents having less money to spend at local businesses.

Union Vows To Fight For Compensation

The United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 1149, which represents 700-800 employees at the plant, plans to push Tyson Foods for compensation and benefits for displaced workers. “We feel that Tyson owes that community and the employees some kind of compensation, some kind of training, some kind of benefit for a lot of those families,” said union president Roger Kail. With tightening availability at other packing facilities, reemployment may not be easy to find. The union will try to obtain as much assistance from the company as possible for workers impacted by the closure.

The pork industry has faced immense struggles over the past year with rising costs and falling prices. The Perry plant closure is indicative of the difficult economic conditions pork producers have been dealing with. Tyson Foods likely targeted this facility for closure because its age and size made modernizing operations more challenging compared to newer plants. Both local leaders and state officials have pledged support for the over 1,200 employees who will soon be out of work as well as efforts to replace the jobs lost in Perry.