John,

As you’ve maybe heard, Tyson is closing a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska – eliminating 3,200 paychecks from a town of 11,000 and devastating an entire community for generations.

I know what it feels like, what these folks are going to be going through. When I heard the news of the plant closure, a lot of emotions came through me because I’ve been in their shoes before.

These hardworking Americans built their lives around the promise of stable employment. They showed up to work. They did everything right. That’s one of the guarantees of this country. If you work hard, you can get ahead. But now, after giving their best years, they’ve been shown the door.

The worst part of this is that it doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t buy that this is just Tyson simply doing good business. In fact, I think it’s likely illegal. The closure of this plant isn’t about cost savings – it’s about manipulating prices and making even more profit through controlling markets and acting as a monopoly.

By shutting this plant down instead of selling it to a competitor, Tyson is driving down the prices they have to pay to ranchers for cattle, while also driving up the prices they can charge to consumers for beef. It’s simple supply and demand.

After Tyson announced the 3,200 layoffs, beef packer profits hit their highest level since August 2022. This is not a coincidence. Less competition means Tyson makes more. Ranchers make less. Consumers pay more. Workers get fired. Everyone gets screwed – except Tyson. That’s not a free market. That’s a monopoly.

We have laws on the books to stop this exact type of market manipulation. I’ve spoken with experts and lawyers who agree. This is a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act. That’s why I am calling on the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice to enforce antitrust laws and compel Tyson to sell this plant to a competitor.

You won’t hear my opponent, billionaire Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, talking about this. Because he doesn’t care. He has no idea what it’s like in the real world for hardworking Nebraskans just trying to make ends meet. Maybe that’s why the polls show us so close in the race for U.S. Senate next year…

I, for one, will never stop speaking up for Nebraskans or fighting for workers.

Dan Osborn