‘Big Four’ meatpackers under fire as beef prices soar
McDonald’s and other food industry players accuse the big beef packers of collusion and price-gouging. The packers deny these allegationsOn 21 November, at the end of the first shift at...
By Ted Genoways, Food & Environment Reporting Network · The Guardian World
McDonald’s and other food industry players accuse the big beef packers of collusion and price-gouging. The packers deny these allegations On 21 November, at the end of the first shift at the Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska , all workers were called to the lunchroom and told they no longer had jobs. Many gathered afterward in the gravel parking lot. Some wailed and cried out. “It’s a terrible thing to know that we won’t be able to pay rent, won’t be able to pay the electricity, our cars – all the bills coming our way,” said Constancio Perales, a 64-year-old worker born in Durango, Mexico , who has worked at the plant since 1996 – the last 25 years cutting the bone out of chuck steaks. “It’s very sad that they would fire us like that – just telling us there’s no more work, as if to say go away .” Continue reading...