| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 9, 2001 |
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Local Workers Challenge Foreign-Owned Food Processing Giant Workers at the Bunge Foods processing plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. are prepared to fight. The 80 workers voted February 8, 2001 to authorize a strike against the food processing giant. Workers authorized a strike after the company refused to extend the existing contract with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1995. The union wants to get back to the table to work out differences in wages and pension benefits. Most workers are long-term employees who helped the Netherlands-based company expand their business in the U.S. "We are ready to come back to the bargaining table to work out a fair contract that recognizes the long-term contribution of these employees. Bunge would rather leave these long-term workers high and dry. The workers won't stand for it," said Larry Cooper, President of UFCW Local 1995. Bunge Foods is an international conglomerate and one of the largest privately held businesses in the world. The Netherlands-based company reported $10 billion in sales in 1999 and employs 27,000 people. The UFCW represents 1.4 million members, including 250,000 food processing and meatpacking workers across the country. United Food and Commercial Workers Union: A Voice for Working America www.ufcw.org |
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