Alice Driver’s new book “Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company” is an exposé covering over a decade in the lies of Tyson factory workers across several plants in the state of Arkansas. It is a behind the scenes look at how Tyson has such a firm hold on both U.S. and Arkansas state policy, to such an extent that workers are left with no recourse and little hope of improved lives.
There fight for better working conditions and fair pay, with women leading the charge, is both heroic and heartbreaking. Many were exposed to a toxic chemical spill and force to work throughout COVID. These are the folks that make the food we eat amid the most deplorable conditions.
Alice Driver is a James Beard Award winning writer from the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, in 2024 she won the Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize from Columbia Journalism School, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard for the “Life and Death of the American Worker.”