UNITED STATES-SMITHFIELD FOODS Inc. (first negotiations)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.farminguk.com/news/United-States-Smithfield-Foods.12269.asp

Contract negotiations have started between Smithfield Packing Co. and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Representatives of both sides sat down to talk Wednesday, about two months after workers in Tar Heel voted in favor of unionizing.

"It’s mostly going to be about wages, benefits (and) health care," said Marc Goumbri, a spokesman for the UFCW. "And there are other issues in Tar Heel like safety, training and seniority."

Goumbri declined to get into specifics about the union’s contract goals. The plant in Bladen County employs more than 5,000 workers and processes up to 32,000 hogs a day.

A point system to deal with tardiness and absences is likely to be discussed, Goumbri said.

"I’m sure this is the first in a series of meetings that will take place," he said. "The first contract is not something that can be done overnight."


FULL story at link.