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<<previous | index | next>> Appendix E: Tyson Trial Transcript
Here is the exchange between a U.S. attorney and a Tyson manager in a 2003 trial over an alleged immigrant worker smuggling scheme: After you got to Glen Allen, were there any major processing changes that occurred in the plant while you were there? Yes. We went to the 50 degrees, which eliminated washdown time. You didn’t have to do a mid-shift washdown. When you say we went to 50 degrees, I think you’re going to have to explain that a little more. We lowered—what we did was we lowered the temperature of the plant in order to eliminate a mid-shift washdown because by lowering the plant temperature, what you do is slow microbial growth, therefore, it eliminates a need for washdown, and, therefore, more production can be achieved. What had the temperature in the plant been before that change? Sixty plus degrees. High 60s. Did Tyson just turn the thermostat down? No, sir. It was a major expansion. And they had to install the HVAC machines, like massive air conditioners that would tunnel this air throughout that packing department in what was termed as a sock. It was a huge sock of air that would be placed on top, above the workers that would cool that entire department to make it the desired temperature to meet USDA specifications to avoid a washdown. So, when you started they were, were they doing a mid-shift washdown? When I started there was mid-shift washdown because we hadn’t lowered the temperature in the plant. What did that do to the production? Increased production. What did the washdown do to production? The washdown decreased production because you stopped the lines from running in order to wash down and to clean the equipment. Was any personal protective equipment issued to the workers in the plant as a result of the change of the temperature? No, sir. Did you recommend that? Yes, sir. What did you recommend? I recommended additional freezer suits for some of those women, additional protective, personal protective equipment, maybe some different type of gloves because these people are dealing with cold meat to begin with and standing in water, then when you lower the temperature, it made it a more undesirable work environment. Did that change in plant temperature and working conditions have an adverse affect on staffing at the Glen Allen plant? Yes, sir. How? It sure did, because what it was doing, it was taking our senior workers, what I mean by senior workers who had been there for quite a number of years, and it was making – it’s so hard on them, they were complaining of bursitis, arthritis, and increased musculoskeletal problems. And, also, we depended upon our current workers, naturally, to refer us incoming workers, and that stopped because nobody was – people weren’t going home and saying Tyson is a good place to work, they were going home saying we’re freezing. What about worker’s compensation claims? We didn’t have to worry about worker’s compensation claims with any of the USA Staffing personnel.354 What about the union relations? The union relations, naturally, members of USA Staffing since they didn’t work for the facility could not file a grievance, therefore, the higher the number of USA Staffing temp members that came into the plant, naturally, we can weaken union participation. In your experience, did illegal aliens file claims for unemployment compensation? No, sir, they did not. Did they show up for work promptly? Yes, sir, they did. What about the concept of overstaffing? Could you, please— Overstaffing. Overstaffing a plant. Was that affected by the illegal aliens? You could, you could, technically, you could reduce your staffing by using illegal aliens because you wouldn’t have to overstaff with people not showing up to work that simply would not come on Mondays and Fridays because the illegal aliens, it didn’t matter which day of the week it was to them, they would show up to work. And production differences? Yes. They had stronger work ethic than the people that we could acquire at the wages that we were offering. Nursing staff? The nursing staff liked the use of illegal aliens because it just meant less work they’d have to do, less pre-employment physicals they’d have to perform. Did you need as many nurses when you were using a large number of temps? No, we did not. What were the nurses used for? They were used for more safety committees and things like that. During the hiring process, what were nurses used for? To do pre-employment assessments, physicals, to do physicals, drug tests, and that type of thing. And did they have to do that for the people that USA Staffing was providing? USA Staffing, no, sir.355 [354] The temporary employment agency that sent workers to the plant when Tyson could not recruit workers into the colder work environment. [355] Tyson Trial Transcript, p. 1063 ff. The trial involved charges that Tyson Foods and some of its executives were involved in a scheme to smuggle undocumented immigrants into Tyson plants. A jury acquitted the company and the company officials, agreeing with their defense that the scheme was the work of a few rogue managers and did not reflect company policy or responsibility.
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