VAN BUREN, Ark. — Spanish version: Para español haga click aqui.
Tyson Foods Van Buren plant announced the plant closure in March and on May 11, it shut down production a day early.
The plant closure left nearly a thousand people without jobs. The situation led to several protests over the past couple of months at the Van Buren plant and company headquarters in Springdale. We spoke with plant employee Juan Barron who said he worked there for more than 20 years and says it was a melancholic day.
"You feel sad because this was like home, like your second home and this is where at least I thought I was going to retire and not work anymore but unfortunately this happened and that's just life," said Barron.
Tyson employees say they worked on the leftover inventory and had a potluck dinner on the final day.
"We had some food for everyone and took pictures, and said goodbye to all the workers. The co-workers got organized so that each one brought a plate of food and after that, they visited the supervisors and took pictures with them," Barron said.
Another employee Maria Ruvalcaba said, "Today was my last day of work, well it was very nice... Food was brought, everyone pitched in something to share... but at the same time, bittersweet because it was our last day. We were supposed to work tomorrow but they told us it was until today. But we were very happy, all together, some of us crying."
In light of the Van Buren plant closing, companies in the area have hosted job fairs to help those losing their job, but many say it hasn't been beneficial for all employees.
Ruvalcaba explained, "When they said they were closing the first day it was announced, we all thought, 'What's going on?' That day we were just told Tyson decided to close."
Ruvalcaba went on to say that although other companies were offering opportunities for jobs an hour and a half away, some employees didn't want to uproot their lives after making a home in Van Buren.
"There were some people who... moved immediately to a different place because they told us, 'You can look, we'll bring some other companies to accommodate you,' they did do that, but it was difficult because they were too far away."
Since May 11 was the final day, many employees have plans to take time off, file for unemployment, and rest for a few weeks and then they plan to look for jobs in the area.
Tyson corporate confirmed on Friday, May 12, that production at the Van Buren plant ended a day early.
"Due to the flawless execution of our team members, we ran through our supply at our Van Buren, Arkansas facility on May 11, 2023. The last official day of operations is May 12, 2023, and all team members who were not called back to work today to help close the facility were paid through that date," Tyson said in the statement.
Tyson says so far, 47 team members from the Van Buren plant have accepted other roles within Tyson. They say during a job fair 250 team members found employment. Tyson says all team members who remained with the company until the plant closed will receive a $1,000 stay-on-bonus. They are also offering team members relocation assistance with financial incentives up to $15,000.
The Crawford County Adult Education Center along with other community partners held two jobs fairs to help these employees. Director, Dr. Debbie Faubus-Kendrick says there were around 50 vendors there and about 150 people participated by applying for jobs and looking at training opportunities.
“I hope they can look at this, I know it's hard, it's a positive thing, where if they want to have, you know, a job change, a career change, now's the time to do it, we can help them in any areas that they need. And if we don't have it, we can send them somewhere, somebody that does,” said Dr. Debbie Faubus-Kendrick.
Faubus-Kendrick says for those who haven’t started looking for what’s next…they are still here to help.
“We're still here. Whenever the traumas come in, you know, it's this week, because it's close now, that sense of family, they had, they're gone. So this is a traumatic experience for a lot of people, because they've been there 30 to 35 years,” she said.
The center has career coaches she says can sit down and talk with people about where they want to go career-wise and how they can help them get there.
“We're not going to push them to enroll in our school. We hope they will. And we hope we can help them but if they don't, we just we're just concerned about the community and what they're, you know how they're going to live here and how they're going to move forward,” she said.
The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services says last week, the dislocated worker services unit held three workshops for those impacted by the plant closure. Information was presented on employment services, job search assistance, education and training opportunities. These workshops were offered in multiple languages.
“While we can’t confirm that other companies in the area have hired any affected workers, we are confident the strong economy and local job market will allow them to easily transition into new positions,” Workforce Services added.
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