Month after sale to new owners, Foster Farms announces raise for Livingston workers
One month after the company declared a sale ending 80-plus years of family ownership, Foster Farms announced Thursday its entry-level team members at the Livingston-based plant are getting a wage increase.
A company news release stated effective this week, Foster Farms increased the entry level rate for its Livingston area team members to $20 an hour. The previous entry level hourly rate was $16.05, according to Foster Farms.
“This challenging economy and our commitment to take care of our valued team members requires us to not only be competitive in our industry, but also within the communities in which we operate from a wages and benefits perspective,” Chief Human Resources Officer Arturo Towns said in the release.
“This is an important first step in building a culture nobody wants to walk away from.”
Foster Farms is also reviewing its vacation policy so employees can accumulate vacation time earlier and have paid time off to take care of personal or family matters, the release said.
The news comes as Livingston locals continue to wonder what the sale of the city’s largest employer will mean for the community.
Atlas Holdings, a Connecticut-based holding company, purchased Foster Farms in June from the family that founded it in 1939. The price of the transaction was not revealed.
As residents reacted to news of the sale last month, Mayor Juan Aguilar speculated at the time that business would either continue as normal, or improve. The mayor said he was hopeful and excited about what the transaction could mean for his city.
Foster Farms Chief Executive Officer Donnie Smith told the Modesto Bee in a June interview the company plans to keep its 12,000-strong workforce and the company’s mix of poultry products.
“There’s no reason for anybody at Foster Farms to be concerned about whether or not they’re going to have a job,” he said at the time. “Our intent is to grow the business.”
Company has longtime impact in the Valley
Smith came out of retirement as CEO at Tyson Foods, based in Arkansas, to lead Foster Farms. He had worked from 1980 to 2016 for Tyson, the world’s second-largest processor of chicken, beef and pork after Colorado-based JBS Foods.
Up to recent years, Foster Farms’ CEO was always a family member until Laura Flanagan was appointed in 2016, followed by Dan Huber in 2019.
Foster Farms has turkey processing operations in Turlock and chicken plants in Livingston, Fresno, Porterville, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana and Alabama. It has long been one of the largest employers in the San Joaquin Valley, with about $3 billion in annual sales.
The company’s hundreds of chicken and turkey products include fresh birds and parts, ground meat, deli slices, marinated items and frozen, breaded products.
Foster Farms has been a benefactor to the communities where it operates, as well as various causes many causes. It gave $3 million toward the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto and helped build the Max Foster Sports Complex in Livingston.
The company was already a big donor to food banks when the pandemic prompted it to give even more.
However, Foster Farms has also seen criticism in recent years. The sale to Atlas Holdings came about a month after a congressional panel alleged that Foster Farms pressured local health officials to keep the Livingston plant open amid a COVID-19 outbreak that resulted in the deaths of multiple employees.
