One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
The Farmer John Plant In Vernon Is Closing, Impacting Hundreds Of Workers
A worker finishing his shift carries a cooler in Vernon on September 14, 2020.
(
Frederic J. Brown
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
One of Vernon’s largest employers, the Farmer John plant, is shutting down early next year, blaming the “escalating cost of doing business in California.”
The meatpacking facility, which employs more than 1,500 workers, was plagued by hundreds of COVID-19 cases in 2020. At the time, workers told LAist that they stood shoulder-to-shoulder processing thousands of pigs each shift.
Cal/OSHA penalized the plant’s parent company, Smithfield Foods, more than $60,000 for serious safety violations that exposed workers to COVID-19, according to the agency. Multiple employees were hospitalized.
Workers at the facility are represented by UFCW Local 770. Union president John Grant said that they’ve reached a “fair agreement” for employee compensation until next year.
“Despite a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with Farmer John employees and their union, Smithfield has decided to exit operations in California,” said Grant in a statement.
The company and the union reached the agreement earlier this week.
Sponsored message
“We hope that another operator will take advantage of the highly trained and stable workforce that makes the Farmer John plant a productive and profitable part of Vernon’s packing infrastructure,” Grant said.
Animal-rights groups have protested the Vernon facility for animal slaughter multiple times. Groups held two-day vigils in 2020 and used 7,000 paper hearts to call attention to pig deaths last year.
Smithfield is assisting impacted workers with the transition, according to a news release. That includes relocation to other facilities or farms, as well as unspecified “retention incentives.”
“We are committed to providing financial and other transition assistance to employees impacted by this difficult decision,” said Brady Stewart, Smithfield’s chief operating officer.
The company said it’s trying to “exit farms” in California because of rising costs. Farmer John products in California will instead be manufactured by facilities in the Midwest. The Vernon plant previously made the iconic Dodger Dog before Papa Cantella’s took over in 2021.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
