After 15 Years, North Carolina Plant Unionizes

[depakid]

Source: NY Times


Workers demonstrating against Smithfield Foods in August 2007 during a shareholders’ meeting in Williamsburg, Va.
-----------

After an expensive and emotional 15-year organizing battle, workers at the world’s largest hog-killing plant, the Smithfield Packing slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, N.C., have voted to unionize. The United Food and Commercial Workers, which had lost unionization elections at the 5,000-worker plant in 1994 and 1997, announced late Thursday that it had finally won. The victory was significant in a region known for hostility toward organized labor.

The vote was one of the biggest private-sector union successes in years, and officials from the United Food and Commercial Workers said it was the largest in that union’s history.

The union won by 2,041 votes to 1,879 after two years of turmoil at the plant. As a result of a federal crackdown on illegal immigrants, more than 1,500 Hispanic workers have left the plant. Its work force is now 60 percent black, up from around 20 percent two years ago.

After the results were announced, Wanda Blue, a hog counter, was among the many workers who were celebrating. “It feels great,” said Ms. Blue, who makes $11.90 an hour and has worked at Smithfield for five years. “It’s like how Obama felt when he won. We made history.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13smithfield.html?hp

[patrice]

1. cough, cough, aaahhmm . . .

You/they just made me cry . . . .

.................

:hi:

[Snotcicles]

2. They are the Union, the Mighty Mighty Union. nt

[martymar64]

3. Look for the Union Label . . . .

Wrong union, but still a great song.

[louis c]

37. First of Many Victories

Wait 5 weeks. The shoe will be on the other foot soon, and the unions will be doing the kicking. We've been beaten down for 30 years. Since that piece of shit Reagan broke the ATC. A new day is here, and I can hardly wait.

[acmavm]

4. I think Bitch McConnel and Dickhead Shelby did the unions a BIG favor

with their acting out this week.

[madmom]

6. Yes I'm hoping this will backfire on them and make unions strong again!

[bulloney]

10. I was thinking the same thing. Backlash from their position against the UAW.

I've said for a while that my generation will see the next Great Depression. It was created primarily by Republican ideology that was allowed to be implemented. It's happening today.

History repeats itself because we're too stupid to learn from the mistakes of our past.

[izquierdista]

18. Slight correction

Because Republicans are too stupid to learn from mistakes of the past. As recently as 2000, enough Republicans had forgotten what a mess George Bush Sr. had made of the economy, so enough of them went along with voting for his spawn that the nation was condemned to a certain depression.

Democrats, liberals, union members, the non-religious, and brown people -- they remembered.

[Odin2005]

5. Methinks McConnel and Shelby just shit their pants! n/t.

[Dr.Phool]

8. As they should.

However, an aneurysm would be better. That would give us 2 more Bunnings.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Same thing.

:D

[eleny]

7. Oh yeah!

[pberq]

9. They still need to get a contract

Folks, while this is fabulous news, there is no guarantee they will get a contract.

Under current law, the employer can stall negotiations for a year and then try to get a decertification vote.

We need the Employee Free Choice Act to rectify this problem.

Please sign the online petition at:

http://www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/aflcio?source=aflcioweb


For information on the Employee Free Choice Act, see:

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/10keyfacts.cfm

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/brokensystem.cfm

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/

It’s Time to Restore Workers’ Freedom to Form Unions



America’s working people are struggling to make ends meet these days and our middle class is disappearing. The best opportunity working people have to get ahead economically is by uniting to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits. Recent research has shown that some 60 million U.S. workers would join a union if they could.



But the current system for forming unions and bargaining is broken. Every day, corporations deny workers the freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions to bargain for a better life. They routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire workers who try to form unions and bargain for economic well-being.



The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America’s middle class. It would restore workers’ freedom to choose a union by:



* Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
* Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
* Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

[patrice]

13. Done.

[jetphixer]

15. I Signed

We all need to sign this go 4 it Jobs are going POOF. Im retired an i support WORKERS"

[Waiting For Everyman]

26. Signed the petition - thanks for the link!

[Omaha Steve]

27. OOPS

I posted BEFORE reading the replies. I repeated much of your post. I think I'll edit it. Thanks for the info.

[DissedByBush]

30. The Employee Free Choice Act is a great thing, except

The card check. Nobody should be able to know how an individual worker voted, ever. Anonymous voting is a cornerstone of our democracy and shouldn't be violated when forming unions.

If an independent auditor can certify (legally sworn to secrecy) that a union has received private requests from a percentage of employees to unionize, the union can certify that with the NLRB. Then it can go into the workplace and have the power to legally demand a secret ballot election. It should also be legally allowed to communicate the benefits of unionization to workers at the workplace before the election.

This way not one worker has to stand up in public to say he's pro-union and risk the wrath of management. Likewise, not one worker has to say he's against the union and risk harassment from a corrupt union (admittedly, corrupt unions less common than management that would harass a pro-union worker, but they exist).

[CANDO]

36. Much-ado-bout nothing

If enough employees sign cards to organize under a card check agreement, they have a union and will then be protected by said union from unfair treatment and harrassment. Under a scenario which not enough cards are signed, there will not be any submitted for examination anyway. Don't fall for the "secret ballot" boogeyman. It's as simple as signing a card. If you don't want a union, don't sign the card.

[DissedByBush]

39. And unfair treatment from unions?

Show me your card or else...

Don't say there's no precedent for it.

[CANDO]

53. I'm imagining that if a person was inclined to...

attend an informational meeting about organizing their workplace, that they wouldn't be under undue pressure to sign an authorization card. I mean really. "Sign this card or I'll break your knee-caps"! Yeah buddy! Makes me want to be part of that. NOT!
I'm certainly not saying that this hasn't happened in the past, but not nowadays. I think if the EFCA goes through, that there will be sufficient legal means to thwart such tactics.

[DissedByBush]

54. I think it will upset the balance

Unions are absolutely necessary to keep the companies from having absolute power to the detriment of the workers, and a little more still needs to be done to address that. Most of this bill accomplishes it. But this tips it to the unions, not to the detriment of the company, but to the potential detriment of the workers.

I work in IT where there's almost no union representation. I'm lucky my company is pretty good to its workers and even worked hard to negotiate a great deal on health insurance this year. I know IT people in other companies getting screwed without a union.

[CANDO]

55. I can't imagine what "balance" you speak of.

Possibly if there were an NLRB which enforced our labor laws against employer intimidation and harassment. But as it stands now, anything goes for employers once they know a union push is on.

[Tempest]

57. I'm one of those IT people getting screwed by management

When our group talked to management about a raise we haven't seen in 2 years, their response was "find a job that pays more".

I'd love to have a union, but getting IT people to agree is impossible. They think it can't get any better or worse with a union.

[Kajsa]

33. Thank you,

Done!

[denverbill]

11. $11.90/hour after 5 years, at a slaughterhouse? They should be making $30/hour.

That has to be one of the toughest jobs in the country. I was taken on a tour of an Iowa slaughterhouse when I was a boy, and it wasn't pretty. The smells, sounds and sights are enough to turn you vegan. The lack of competition from illegal aliens should have a huge impact on wages.

[progressoid]

29. That was about the STARTING wage 20 years ago .

I too took a tour of a pork plant when I was in high school. IIRC, the starting wage was 12.00/hr.

It's no wonder they are full if illegals now. Who the hell wants to do that for fast food wages.

[sandnsea]

31. There ya' go

I saw this happen in Arkansas when I lived there in the 80s. It's one of the biggest reasons I left the south, even though my family lives there. I refuse to live in that kind of poverty and worse, the mindset that goes with it. Yes, I deserve some dignity in my work, no matter what kind of work I do. I don't understand why the put up with it. I saw $4 hr wages at factories that had paid $12+ in the north. Then I saw logging companies close in the northwest to go to the south and practice the same wage deflation and destruction of the land. This has been going on in so many industries for decades, and plenty of Democrats helped.

[tismyself]

47. Almost 15 decades, actually.

And it's far from being just the logging companies.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Union wins a 16-year fight to organize hog plant

Here is the local coverage of the OP's story:

Union wins a 16-year fight to organize hog plant

Tar Heel packer employs 5,000

Kristin Collins, Staff Writer

The victory is a coup in a state with the lowest rate of unionization in the nation. It is part of a larger struggle to organize meatpacking plants that have moved to the Southeast in the past few decades, hoping to escape the reach of unions.

Labor expert Marion Crain, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., called the victory in Tar Heel "an important symbolic win, not just for the union, but for the workers, to see that an employer who was steadfastly committed to resisting unionization eventually yielded."

Workers who supported the union said Friday that they hoped for many changes in the plant, including higher pay, more breaks, better work schedules and more respect from supervisors.

"You can't go to the bathroom when you want. When you're sick, they expect you to still come to work," said Charles McEachim of Fayetteville, who was leaving the plant after his shift Thursday. "We need a union."

Power in a union

Membership gives workers a voice in setting hours and determining their workloads, and gives them a procedure to appeal decisions by their bosses. The union has promised to put an end to working conditions that it says are dangerous and demoralizing.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1330939.html

[kimmylavin]

17. They make them come in to work SICK?

At a slaughterhouse?

I'm told to stay home from my job sitting at a computer because I might get everyone else sick, and they make people who directly affect the food supply come in sick?

Ah, business sense...

Good for them; may their union grow strong!

[eleny]

20. That's where the union will eventually make a difference

It all takes so much time. But organizing is an ongoing process. One day, this rule will be on the table.

[madrchsod]

16. good... i can buy smithfield hams from north carolina

look for the union label!

[harpboy_ak]

46. I wouldn't buy Smithfield hams until they have a contract

Just because they won an election doesn't mean that they have a contract. If Smithfield has been fighting this for 15 years, they'll try to stall in contract negotiations. These scab outfits always try to fight the union to the bitter end.

I'm not buying any Smithfield hams until I know that the union has a contract that their members consider to be fair.

[annabanana]

19. Monday is the last day for "standard shipment" before Christmas

http://www.smithfieldhams.com/

[MilesColtrane]

21. Right On

[tismyself]

22. I listened to that on the radio and smiled all the way to work.

I work in NC for a firm that is very concerned about the evil unions taking over, I wish I could provide more details, but you know how that is. The people I work for are pro merit shop and have one of the largest PAC's in the nation. They gave a fortune to the Republicans recently.

I get phone calls every day asking what can people do to keep the unions away from their businesses, that they are afraid of the unions coming in. I start out by asking them why exactly are they afraid of the unions and the conversation usually goes downhill from there.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that the most rabid anti-union people (around me at any rate) are the ones who grew up among them, in other words, the ones who have had the most contact with them.

It's a messy business, but I think there is a calm and sane center to be found in there somewhere.

[Waiting For Everyman]

23. WOW! Awesome!

:woohoo:

It's so nice to see this!!!

[Omaha Steve]

24. Find out whether your representative voted for the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800)

Actually to help the union, you need to call Smithfield and tell them you won't buy anything from them until AFTER the workers have a fair contract. Smithfield workers are getting less money now that Hormel employees got before the Spam strike in the mid 80's. Factor in inflation and you get the picture.

Pass the Employee Free Choice Act!

Find out whether your representative voted for the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800): http://www.unionvoice.org/wfean/EFCA_HouseVote.html

[scytherius]

25. more evidence of the death or the Republican Party.

While I don't know what has taken people so long, but people realize that conservatism, republicans, etc care about no one but the rich. they are fighting back all over the U.S. this is fantastic news indeed.

[DutchLiberal]

28. "The victory was significant in a region known for hostility toward organized labor."

Er...

WHY?!

:wtf:

[Doremus]

32. I've been asking myself that question. WHY?

They hear that unions are evil, or listen to Cousin Mary who thinks her union bosses have it too easy or her steward didn't go to bat for her, or other short-sighted tightwads who only see the cost of union dues and forget the benefits of union membership.

I swear it doesn't take much to persuade some people to chew off their own limb.

You have to drag some people, kicking and screaming, out of a burning building.

[Hissyspit]

35. North Carolina?

Red State. Bible belt. Lots of ignorance.

I battle against it every time I go into the classroom.

[AlbertCat]

40. Red State. Bible belt. Lots of ignorance.

Tell me about it! And it's one of the more "enlightened" states! Try GA or AL!

For that matter try KS or ID.... there's no shortage of ignorance to go around. But remember....ignorance is not stupidity. Things can change.

[DutchLiberal]

41. Ooh, I know it's a 'red state' and such, but I thought since this is not about politics, but...

about people's actual LIVES, you know, their jobs and their own income security and such, they would be pro-union. I guess what I'm trying to say, is: how can anyone be anti-union? Whether you're a conservative/Republican or liberal/Democrat: we all have to work, and we all have to put food on the table and pay the bills etc., so... Why?

Well, I know, of course, about the anti-union propaganda from the right. And if you're dumb enough to vote against your own economic interest by electing people like George Bush, you're also dumb enough to be anti-union. So really, I kind of DID know the answer, but it was more a kind of general wondering about "I can't believe these people are so stupid!!1!1"

Anyway: keep on battling! :patriot:

[llmart]

43. Well, they did go for Obama this year......

so maybe they're purple:)

I lived in NC 16 years ago and worked at a very large, multinational company headquartered in the North. The people in the North were union; the people in the Southern offices were not, but they enjoyed all the same benefits as the union workers had fought for and yet these people would argue with me about how bad unions were. I said to one of them one time, "Then why don't you give back that nice cost of living rate you get periodically?" They still didn't get it.

They were happy to enjoy the benefits but in no way could they understand that they received those benefits because workers at headquarters in the North fought tooth and nail for all of it.

Very frustrating.

By the way, the wages haven't increase in the 16 years I've been gone. I occasionally check for job openings in my field and they literally still pay the same thing. I don't know how they get by sometimes.

[Hissyspit]

45. Yes, we did go for Obama, but only by a few thousand votes.

Which I was joyous about, yes. Made me very happy. But after the past eight years and the situation we find our country, to only get it by a few thousand is evidence of the depth of the bigotry and ignorance you still find her. McCain/Palin signs up and down my road. But I'm not looking a gift-horse in the mouth.

[llmart]

52. I understand.

I've been thinking about moving back because of the climate. It really is a beautiful state geographically what with the mountains, the coast and the piedmont. I lived in Charlotte. We have our share of bigots here too.

[tismyself]

48. I battle against it every time I go into the classroom.

I used to be a Title 1 reading specialist in a small mountain community in NC. And, at first, I thought the same way as you do.

Believe me, it totally depends on how you define "ignorance".

I learned quite a lot from those kids, humility being the main lesson.

[Hissyspit]

56. I teach college.

Different standards.

How am I not being humble?

Where did I say I don't learn from my kids?

[tismyself]

58. I disagree.

I don't think the standards are different at all, but that is only my opinion.

I didn't say anything about you not learning from your kids.

And the humble part? Well... I don't really know what to say. Personally, I would never refer to an individual or group as ignorant. That's pretty heavy.

I have a feeling this is going no where fast - didn't mean to offend.

[Career Prole]

34. Hey Tom!! They're learning!!!

I read this article yesterday after days of reading disparaging commentary about unions (even some, sadly, here on DU).

It's about the workers who held the successful sit-in at Republic Windows and Doors and features comments from Tom Flores, one of those workers...

Chicago Workers to Rest of Country: 'Don’t Let It Die'

Chicago worker Raul Flores’s job is gone, but he’s still there. "I've got a family to support, so I've got to do whatever it takes," he says. "The economic situation is not good, but I can't just wait for something to happen to me."

That puts Flores in the same boat as millions of other U.S. workers. Last month alone 533,000 workers lost their jobs, the highest figure in 34 years. A week ago, the heads of the big three auto companies were in Washington D.C., pleading for loans to keep their companies afloat. As a price, lawmakers and pundits told them, they had to become "leaner and meaner," and in response, General Motors announced it would close nine plants and put tens of thousands of workers in the street. Ford and Chrysler described a similar job-elimination strategy.

Flores didn’t just accept the elimination of his job. Instead, he sat for six days in the Chicago plant where he worked, together with 240 other union members at Republic Windows and Doors.

<snip>

While the workers acted to gain their legally mandated rights, the plant occupation resurrects a tactic with a radical history. In 1936, auto workers occupied the huge Fisher Body plants in Flint, Mich., and when the battle was over, the United Auto Workers was born. Sitdown strikes spread across the country like wildfire. Occupying production lines in plant after plant, workers won unions, better wages and real changes in their lives.

Seventy years later, the workers who have inherited that legacy of unionization and security are on the brink of losing everything. Just since 2006 the United Auto Workers has lost 119,000 members. The threat of plant closure has been used to cut the wages of new hires in half, to $14.50, the same wage paid on the window lines at Republic, where the union is only four years old.

Flores certainly hopes that those whose livelihoods are in peril will rediscover the tactic. "This is the start of something," he urges. "Don't let it die. Learn something from it."

<snip>

Fran Tobin, mid-west organizer for Jobs with Justice, a coalition of labor and community groups with chapters around the country, shares that optimism. "I think this is not the last time we're going to see American workers occupying American plants as part of a move to save jobs and turn things around," he says.

Organizers for Jobs with Justice are fanning out with a program they call a "Peoples' Bailout." "We need to ask, 'What kind of an economy and recovery do we want?'" Tobin emphasizes. He lists funds for a jobs program, rather than huge loans to banks, a moratorium on home foreclosures, investment in infrastructure repair, and helping local and state governments (and public worker) survive the crisis without massive budget cuts.

Flores, Tobin and Fried all agree that none of those demands can be won without unions and workers willing to fight for them. That makes the Republic plant occupation more than just a local confrontation. "This might not be the right tactic in every situation, but people know we need to be fighting back," Fried says.

Will the unions in auto plants and other workplaces hit by layoffs take up the challenge of the Republic workers? To Flores, they have to do something more than just watch the elimination of their jobs. "We've got to fight for our rights," he emphasizes. "It's not fair that they just kick us out on the street with nothing. Somebody has to respond."

Full Article

Maybe folks are starting to learn. These people will never give us anything.

[KG]

38. hoo-ray!

[Historic NY]

42. GO UNION.....its like winning you civil rights.

[McCamy Taylor]

44. This is what Democracy looks like!

:dem:

[Mudoria]

49. Most of the employees will not join the union...

just a guess but none of the ones who voted no will join and many of those who voted yes will not join to avoid paying the dues. That's how it works here.

[Bill McBlueState]

51. it's actually kind of surprising when you think about it

In the so-called "Real America," there's supposedly a strong ethic that you should have to work hard for what you get. It's surprising, then, that so many of these states allow workers to benefit from a union contract without paying union dues.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

50. I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR6SMAJQW8Y

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill

As a one time Steel Worker union rep, I say organize!