Tyson Has Record of Factory Deaths

Even though two deaths at the Harrisonburg Tyson Foods plant have been ruled accidental, fellow workers believe the factory deaths are a manifestation of much greater company misconduct.

Joce Noel Herrera Zantos, 19, ground to death in a meat grinder, and Locu Huu Ho, a Vietnamese immigrant who died of a fractured skull, were two of seven persons killed in Tyson plants across the nation in 1999. Because the two local workers were illegal immigrants, Tyson was not legally bound to pay the normal family reparations, but the human resources spokesperson for Tyson claims they are "sending yearly payments" to Zantos' family in Honduras.

Late one night, Zantos was cleaning the chicken grinding machines in Harrisonburg's Tyson Foods branch when the machine activated suddenly, catching his sleeve.

Originally from Honduras, the young man came to Harrisonburg to find work. Part of his Tyson salary was sent home to support his two children. He had not been trained to clean the large machinery and was therefore unaware of the necessary precautions. The late-night line manger found his body mangled by the grinder.

Tyson was fined $7,000 for the death of Zantos after inspections of the equipment found them unsafe. If Zantos had been a legal citizen, Tyson would have been obligated to pay reparations to the family. However, it was discovered and reported by the Daily News Record that, in fact, he had been using fake papers under the name Jose A. Vasquez Uyeda. Therefore, Tyson had no legal obligation to pay the family.

One of the laundry attendants at the local Tyson branch, and a friend of the Zantos family, claims that Tyson did not pay the family reparations. The Human Resources manager at the local Tyson branch denied the charges. "We have continued to compensate for his death by sending yearly payments to his parents and his children." He did not deny that the young man was an illegal immigrant, though he claims that he had not known this till after his death.

The other factory deaths were also investigated by the state in 1999. As a result of the investigation, Tyson was fined a sum of $139,500 by the Kentucky Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for confined space violations in the Robards, Ky. plant. They were also fined $22,000 by the Maryland OSHA for unsafe standards in the Berlin, Md. branch.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union said in a Jan. 7, 2000, statement, "Seven worker deaths and a massive worker lawsuit has earned Tyson Foods a place on the list of the nation's ten worst corporations of 1999. In its special year-end edition, Corporate Crime Reporter cited the Arkansas-based poultry giant as the only poultry company with worker fatalities in 1999."

In Harrisonburg, Tyson was not charged with homicide for the deaths of Zantos and Huu Ho, though the law states that employers may be charged with homicide if their careless conduct results in an employee's death. A former employee of the local Tyson branch and also a friend of the deceased believes that the deceased's illegal status has allowed Tyson to ignore normal legal ramifications.