November, 2008

Collective Bargaining, Economic Justice, Health Care, Packing and Processing, Press Releases, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

Meatpacking Workers Win Solid Wage and Benefits Increases in New Agreement with Smithfield/Patrick Cudahy

Nov 20, 2008

(Washington, DC) – A new contract covering 1450 Smithfield/Patrick Cudahy workers in Cudahy, Wis., raises living standards for meatpacking workers and their families. The contract negotiated by union members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473 provides solid wage increases, lower worker health care costs with improved health care benefits, and greater pension security.

“This is a good contract,” said production worker and UFCW Local 1473 member Ilma Santiago. “Good wages, good health care, and good pension benefits.”

The new five-year contract provides:

  • Wage increase of $1.26, increasing base-wage rates to $12.66  an hour with a top rate of  $32.08 an hour
  • A $175 lump-sum payment
  • Improvements in wellness health care coverage—and a five percent decrease in worker health care costs
  • Increases pension and improves retirement security
  • A $200 annual tool allowance
  • Increases life insurance
  • Increases sick allowance pay
  • Improves vacation benefits
  • Improves funeral and bereavement pay

The Cudahy contract is the latest of several major collective bargaining wins for UFCW packing and food processing members across the country.

“It’s good to have a union, especially in these tough economic times—a UFCW contract means security for my family,” said Santiago.

Collective Bargaining, Organizing, Packing and Processing, Press Releases, UFCW Industries

HYRUM JBS/SWIFT WORKERS STAND UP FOR VOICE ON THE JOB

Nov 20, 2008

Hyrum, Utah – More than 1,100 workers gained union representation with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 711 yesterday at the JBS/Swift beef plant (known locally as the E. A. Miller plant) in Hyrum, Utah, after voting overwhelmingly for a voice on the job.

“We stood together for a better future for our families,” said Isaias Lopez, a 22-year veteran of the plant. “That was the first step. Now, we can work on a first contract that brings greater opportunity to our workplace.”

The Hyrum plant has been in operation for over seventy years and became part of the JBS family with their acquisition of Swift meatpacking almost two years ago. It had been the only JBS/Swift plant in the United States that did not have union representation.

“This victory means we’ll have a voice at work,” said plant worker Adalberto Soto. We voted ‘UFCW Yes.’ It was an easy decision, and it was the right decision for our families and our future.”

“When we sit down with management to negotiate that first contract,” continued Soto, “We won’t sit down alone. We’ll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our ten thousand brothers and sisters at all the JBS/Swift plants across the country, and with all workers in the packing and processing industry. The more workers who unite in our industry—the   more powerful we are to make better lives for our families.”

Yesterday’s result of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election was a culmination of a worker-led campaign designed to give these men and women a stronger voice on the job and more opportunity for their families.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the Hyrum workers,” said Max Aldama, a member of UFCW Local 1149 and an employee at JBS/Swift’s Marshalltown, Iowa plant who assisted workers in organizing their Hyrum plant. “JBS/Swift has always been willing to work honestly and openly with us in Marshalltown, and I know they’ll live up to the high standards they have always set and kept for themselves.”

Uncategorized

>CEOs Admit: "We Like Driving the Car"

Nov 19, 2008

>When it comes to Employee Free Choice, CEOs have finally been caught without the spin filter on. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Thomas Frank makes it clear that majority sign up is “about power. Management has it, workers don’t, and business doesn’t want that to change.”

Just listen to what Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said at a recent analyst meeting, when asked about majority sign up, according to Frank:

“We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.”

Or how about a this hyperbolic statement from Home Depot Cofounder and former CEO Bernie Marcus:

“This is how a civilization disappears. I’m sitting here as an elder statesman, and I’m watching this happen, and I don’t believe it.”

He apparently doesn’t think our current economic crisis is anything to blink at. But oh, man, if more people start joining unions–if more people have health care, and pensions, and a living wage–then we’re really done for.

These CEOs aren’t interested in what’s best for workers, like they claim to be. What they’re interested in is one thing, and one thing only–keeping all the power, influence, and money in the hands of employers. When workers are able to join a union, then employers starting fretting about having their unlimited power taken away.

Too bad for them. But good for American workers. Employee Free Choice will strengthen our middle class and help restore the balance to our economy. And if that means no more multi-million dollar bonuses for greedy execs–well, I guess that’s why, according to Frank, Marcus also said that any retailer who doesn’t give money to anti-Employee Free Choice candidates and causes “should be shot, should be thrown out of their godamn jobs.”

Guess that pretty much says it all.