Tyson Foods Inc. announced Monday that all employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1, and they will give frontline workers $200 for taking the shots.
The company said it is taking this action because “new variants of COVID-19 are more contagious, more deadly and responsible for most cases in America today,” the company statement said.
Fewer than half the Tyson workforce has been fully vaccinated, the statement said, although it is “abundantly clear that getting vaccinated is the single most effective thing we can do to protect ourselves, our families and our communities.”
The following vaccination schedule will be enforced:
- All Tyson leadership (officers and above) by Sept. 24
- All office workers by Oct. 1
- All other workers by Nov. 1
- All new hires must be fully vaccinated prior to their start date
- Union members will be subject to the results of union bargaining on this issue
The company said that once frontline workers are fully vaccinated and verified, they will receive $200 “as a thank you for doing your part to keep us all safe.”
“We did not take this decision lightly,” the company statement said. “We take this step today because nothing is more important than our team members’ health and safety, and we thank them for the work they do, every day, to help us feed this country, and our world.”
The Springdale, Arkansas-based company employs about 120,000 workers in the U.S., including about 1,100 people at the Tyson Fresh Meats in Perry. Free, onsite vaccinations were provided to workers at the Perry plant starting March 1, 2021.
