Tyson Foods to spend $50M on bonuses at its meat plants

Tyson Foods said Monday that it plans to spend roughly $50 million on year-end bonuses for over 80,000 hourly workers at its meatpacking plants that will give them between $300 and $700 apiece

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Tyson Foods said Monday that it plans to spend roughly $50 million on year-end bonuses for over 80,000 hourly workers at its meatpacking plants that will give them between $300 and $700 apiece.

Those bonuses are on top of wage increases the company has approved at many of its plants as new contracts were negotiated over the past year. Tyson estimated that it has spent more $500 million on wage increases and other bonuses over the past year for the employees who kept its plants running throughout the coronavirus pandemic. That includes the $200 bonuses it paid to workers who got vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Springdale, Arkansas-based company said that over the past year the total value of the wages and benefits its hourly workers receive increased to $24 an hour on average, up from an average of $22 an hour.

The figures released Monday don't include bonuses and raises Tyson plans to pay its salaried employees.