Foodmaster managers refuse kids’ letter of protest (Smithfield packing)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.townonline.com/somerville/homepage/8999358240998325599

Foodmaster managers refuse kids’ letter of protest
By Auditi Guha
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - Updated: 08:45 AM EST

Johnny’s Foodmaster store managers on Alewife Brook Parkway refused to take a letter drafted by fifth grade students protesting unfair worker practices of a meat packing company whose products they carry, at a protest outside the supermarket on Dec. 10.

“They wouldn’t let us come in, they wouldn’t come out and they wouldn’t take the letter. So now we are just going to mail it,” said Sofia Rosenberg, 10, from West Newton.

Led by the fifth grade class of The Workmen’s Circle Jewish Sunday school on International Human Rights Day, hundreds of students and parents from seven area cities protested against Smithfield Packing whose products are on the shelves of this local supermarket.

“We were protesting bad working conditions and low pay – and the supermarket selling products from this meat packing company,” said Julia LeJeune, 10, from Brookline.

Speeches made by many students at the rally drove home issues like workers unable to go to the bathroom when they want, injuries not taken seriously, racial tensions and other inhumane work conditions that allegedly exist at this meat packing company in North Carolina.


Susan Phillips of Brookline voices her disapproval of Smithfield Co.'s labor practices during a protest on Sunday afternoon, December 10, 2006, outside Foodmaster, which sells the company's products.
(David Gordon)

“Smithfield workers often have to work 12 hours a day and only get 11 dollars an hour. Many of the workers who get hurt don’t report their injuries for fear of getting fired. If anyone is caught trying to form a union, they are put in cells as if they had committed a crime,” said Hannah Monius, 10, in her public speech at the protest.

The students have been learning about the sweatshops their Jewish ancestors toiled in when they first arrived in the US and are outraged that such injustice still exists today in this country. Workers at the Tar Heel Smithfield Packaging plant, the largest pork processing plant in the world, face degrading and dangerous working conditions, according to their research.

“I care about working conditions in sweatshops because my great grandma worked in one. Because of her I feel sort of connected to people working in them today. When my great grandma fought for her rights and joined the union her life got better,” said 10-year-old Stella Plenk at her speech this weekend. “In Sunday school we’ve been talking about how Smithfield treats their workers and we think that they need our help. So now you see why we are asking Foodmaster to stop carrying Smithfield bacon until working conditions are better.”

FULL story at link.

[GainesT1958]

1. Those kids just got a hard lesson in life...

And the unfairness of it...and about those who don't care about that unfairness.

But I really admire them for pushing ahead with mailing it...the will to change things will win out...if you keep pushing!

B-)