| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 4, 2001 |
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Union Seeks Temporary Restraining Order Against Rochelle Foods and Local Police Department Workers at Rochelle Foods put up picket lines just over three weeks ago, protesting company wage proposals a that would leave the 900 families falling behind rather then moving forward. The strike is still going strong, with picket lines up at the pork processing plant 24 hours a day. Rochelle Foods, a subsidiary of industry giant Hormel, has taken worker intimidation to the next level. The company enlisted the support of local law enforcement to illegally construct barricades around the plant entrance. The barricades violate the workers' legal right to picket outside their place of employment. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1540 went to Rockford U.S. District Court today and filed for a temporary restraining order to remove the illegal barricades from around the Rochelle Foods plant entrance. The temporary restraining order application targets Robbie Buck, the Deputy Police Chief of Rochelle, Joseph Salitros, the Rochelle City Manager, and Rochelle Foods for conspiring to prevent the legal, peaceful pickets outside the plant. "The workers are peacefully and legally standing up for a better future in Rochelle. But the company is dragging law enforcement and elected officials into their illegal plan to violate workers' rights and break this strike. This community should be appalled at the company's behavior and that of the local officials," said Kevin Williamson, UFCW International Vice President and Region 6 Director. Workers were forced on strike after the company demanded that workers accept a real wage cut over the term of the proposed four-year contract. The company's demands would have left workers with about 2 percent less family purchasing power than they have now. Current wages at Rochelle Foods are already about one to two dollars less than other pork processing facilities. UFCW Local 1540 has received more than $100,000 in strike support funds and more is coming in daily. United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW): A Voice for Working America www.ufcw.org |
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