Corporate layoffs are nothing new, but the laid-off workers of Tyson Foods in Lexington, Nebraska, were quite shocked after their company not only laid them off by the thousands but also told them to keep working. To make matters worse, a lot of the workers Tyson Foods laid off were notably of foreign descent, and some don’t even understand English, making them vulnerable as targets for certain federal agencies.
This incident was one of the fallouts of the recent Tyson Foods beef processing plant closure in Lexington, Nebraska. Approximately 3,200 workers were laid off in late November, which is nearly 1/3 of Lexington. It appears this closure will be gradual, likely why the processing plant still told its workers to come to work for an additional 60 days after they were laid off. A video of the announcement was even uploaded and re-circulated to several social media sites:
In the video, you can see one of the workers filming a manager in the plant telling everyone to go home. However, they will still need to come in on “Monday, regular time,” and “work for 60 days” more, approximately. Numerous translators for Spanish and other languages can also be heard alongside the English-speaking managers, leading many viewers to believe that most of the workers in the meeting were migrants.
As for why Tyson Foods chose to close its plant in the small Nebraska town, the company is now facing a $720 million deficit, which accumulated over the past two years. This year, they expect losses of $600 million. Cattle ranchers all over the US have been facing many financial difficulties due to drought and tariffs.
People Online Are Blaming Nebraska Voters
As expected, many viewers and commenters were implying that Lexington, Nebraska, might have dug its own grave when it voted for President Trump. “Unfortunately, Nebraska is getting what they voted for,” rants one commenter, as Nebraska notably voted nearly 60 percent in favor of Trump and only 40 percent for Harris. However, it’s not clear just how many of the migrant workers in Tyson Foods voted for Trump.
At the very least, their situation is quite dire, not only because they lost their jobs, but some of them might face prejudice from ICE agents, who have a history of wrongfully arresting and detaining people based on their skin color or spoken language. “DON’T GO BACK THEY ARE JUST GOING TO WORK YOU 60 DAYS AND THEN HAVE ICE KIDNAP YOU,” warns a commenter on the video. Tyson Foods is apparently offering relocation opportunities, but it’s not clear if they’re willing to do that for all 3,200 workers.
Meanwhile, other people found Tyson Foods’ demand to have its workers still work after laying them off rather audacious or even absurd, “They all should just walk out immediately!!!” Turns out the town of Lexington also doesn’t have many job opportunities, as Tyson Foods was the one offering the most employment in the area.
