Future of Troubled Meatpacker in Doubt

The Inland Empire meatpacking plant that's at the center of the largest beef recall in US history remains shut down. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of meat processed at the Westland Hallmark Meat Company. It also suspended production there. A video showed workers at the company apparently forcing sick and injured cows to slaughter.

Steven Cuevas: A slaughterhouse is, by its very nature, not the most welcoming of places. Even less so if it's in the kind of trouble that Westland finds itself in. On this morning, the facility's cattle chutes are empty. A row of big rigs sit idle in the parking lot.

Cuevas: Good morning, I'm just a reporter.

Security guard: Yup... Wait, say that again?

Cuevas: A lone security guard, bundled in a thick black jacket, keeps sentry outside Westland's main gate. He won't give his name. It's a pretty lonely job. He's one of the few workers that didn't get laid off.

Security guard: Yeah, they laid 'em all off. They gave 'em their applications for unemployment and everything. They're all gone. Counting the cattle drivers and everything.

Cuevas: Westland was a major supplier of beef to the National School Lunch Program and a pair of major fast food outlets. The USDA suspended production at Westland three weeks ago after the Humane Society released an undercover video recorded inside the Chino plant. It shows workers using forklifts, hoses, and electric prods to force cows that appear unable to stand to slaughter. That practice is banned by state and federal law because of food safety concerns.

[Sound of Humane Society video]

Cuevas: Westland's president Steve Mendel has issued one statement since the video was aired. He said he was shocked and horrified by the images, and he said his company is cooperating with USDA investigators. Two Westland employees seen in the video were fired. Both now face criminal charges. About 200 other workers face unemployment. It's unclear when, or if, Westland will reopen.

John Husing: Those employees will be in trouble.

Cuevas: Economist John Husing says the job outlook is not good right now for workers who had low wage, minimal skill jobs.

Security guard: We are at the point in the Inland region where, for the first time in the 44 years that I've studied the area, that we are seeing negative job growth. The slowdown in housing means fewer people moving to the region and transferring their income, wealth, and spending into it. So if they're going to get jobs, it's not gonna be in the Inland Empire.

Cuevas: That guard at Westland who wouldn't give his name? He says fewer and fewer employees come by the front gate to ask when they might get their jobs back. He says the company looks like it's getting ready to shut down for good.

Security guard: Yeah, they're just getting all the paperwork done they gotta get done. And the security, we're here because of the property they have here until they sell it or do whatever they do with it, then we're outta here too.

Cuevas: Westland did not return phone calls seeking comment. A USDA representative would only say that the agency's investigation is ongoing.