In 2015, to get pork processing facility Seaboard Triumph Foods off the ground, the Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded the corporation millions of dollars. The subsidies, amounting to $16,443,002 in 2015 alone, were meant for industrial job growth and training. But in the decade that followed, Seaboard Triumph Foods came to be at the center of multiple Department of Labor code violations, as well as allegations from a former employee, who described piles of dead pigs and noxious gases wafting inside the plant. In April 2025, the former employee shared his work safety and environmental concerns with the Environmental Protection Agency.
On paper, the jobs seem as good or even better than opportunities elsewhere in the state, with attractive wages and benefits. But the actual conditions for the workers are a very different story.
According to their website, the Iowa High Quality Jobs Program “provides qualifying businesses assistance to offset some of the costs incurred to locate, expand or modernize an Iowa facility,” through loans, tax credits, exemptions and refunds. The state defines a “High Quality Job” as one which meets certain wage and benefit requirements…