Tyson Foods announced Wednesday that the company will indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo pork plant this week.The company said its largest pork plant has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism and will stop production mid-week until further notice. The facility’s 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing.“Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason we’ve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time,” said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. “Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production. The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers,” Stouffer said. “It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation’s pork supply.”The company said Waterloo workers who have been affected will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed.Re-opening the facility will depend on different factors, including the outcome of employee COVID-19 testing, according to Tyson.Tyson said their other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production due to "the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions or worker absenteeism."Two Tyson plants re-opened this week after closing for deep cleaning due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Tyson Foods announced Wednesday that the company will indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo pork plant this week.

The company said its largest pork plant has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism and will stop production mid-week until further notice.


The facility’s 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing.

“Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason we’ve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time,” said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. “Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production. The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers,” Stouffer said. “It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation’s pork supply.”

The company said Waterloo workers who have been affected will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed.

Re-opening the facility will depend on different factors, including the outcome of employee COVID-19 testing, according to Tyson.

Tyson said their other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production due to "the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions or worker absenteeism."

Two Tyson plants re-opened this week after closing for deep cleaning due to COVID-19 outbreaks.