It often happens to me in airports. Or sometimes on road trips to outlet malls. I’ll be standing around, overwhelmed by gastronomic aromas, weak with hunger, clutching a fistful of change, and yet, for some reason, unable to decide which fast food establishment to patronize. KFC or McDonalds? Taco Bell or Wendy’s?
It often happens to me in airports. Or sometimes on road trips to outlet malls. I’ll be standing around, overwhelmed by gastronomic aromas, weak with hunger, clutching a fistful of change, and yet, for some reason, unable to decide which fast food establishment to patronize. KFC or McDonalds? Taco Bell or Wendy’s?
Turns out, it matters even less than you think. That’s because many of those restaurants are serving up the same meat – Tyson meat. According to Bloomberg.com, Tyson Foods, Inc. is the biggest meat processor in the country, providing chicken, beef and pork to fast food chains, grocery stores, and restaurants across the U.S. Last year, its net income reached $780 million.
But Tyson doesn’t do it all by themselves. In addition to supplying private companies, Tyson Foods has repeatedly obtained enormous contracts with the U.S. government, feeding military bases the same chicken breasts and beef patties that wind up in Happy Meals. In each of the last three years, Tyson Foods received contracts with the U.S. government worth more than $200 million.
Yet the benefits of such lucrative deals come with some basic responsibilities – namely – non-discrimination. Federal civil rights law requires that federal contractors must not discriminate in employment on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status.
This week, Tyson Fresh Meats, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. agreed to pay $2.25 million in back wages, interest and benefits to more than 1,650 women who, despite being qualified applicants, were rejected for positions at Tyson plants in Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa. This settlement comes only days after the same company settled a separate lawsuit, (regarding unpaid wages) by agreeing to pay workers and attorneys $32 million.
In a news release, OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu said: “We will remain vigilant, particularly with a serial offender like Tyson, to protect the rights of workers who can and should expect basic fairness from a company that profits mightily from doing business with the federal government.”
Tyson has also agreed to hire several hundred of the affected women, as positions become available. At a time when the economy is growing but women are continuing to lose jobs, it is increasingly critical that discrimination based on sex be exposed, and that women be afforded equal opportunities to work and support their families.