Smithfield Foods will close the Farmer John plant in Vernon, CA. during early 2023. Concurrently, the company will end ownership of hog farms in Arizona and California.
After onset of COVID, the Farmer John plant experienced a series of outbreaks among workers that resulted in fines by OSHA and by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Farmer John lost their contract to supply hot dogs to the Los Angeles Dodgers‘s stadium, possibly as a result of negative publicity.
United Food and Commercial workers, Local 770, was apparently ready to initiate negotiations for a new contract before the announcement that will remove 1,800 jobs from an economically depressed area.