The largest U.S. meat processor, Tyson Foods, said on Tuesday that all of its 139,000 employees must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 1, with a proposed $200 “thank you” for frontline workers for compliance. “We do not take this decision lightly,” said chief executive Donnie King in a memo. “We have spent months encouraging our team members to get vaccinated – today under half of our team members are.”
Tyson Foods said it was the largest U.S. food company to require all its workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. More than 56,000 of its 139,000 employees were vaccinated so far, it said. The mandate for vaccinations along with the $200 payment are subject to bargaining with labor unions. Office workers were given an Oct. 1 target for vaccination and top executives a Sept. 24 target.
The processor said it spent more than $700 million on Covid-19 measures, from buying masks and installing protective barriers at its plants to providing on-site testing and vaccinations. In May, Tyson Foods reported quarterly sales of $11.3 billion and net income of $476 million.