| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 19, 2001 |
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Nebraska Beef Workers Standing Up for a Voice on the Job The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) is proud to stand with Governor Johanns one year after he issued the Nebraska Meatpacking Workers Bill of Rights. Thousands of workers toil in meatpacking plants, in Omaha and across the state, earning substandard wages, risking serious injury and afraid to stand up for their legal rights on the job. With the Workers' Bill of Rights, more and more Nebraska workers are learning about their rights and standing up for fairness on the job. The workers from Nebraska Beef in Omaha are a perfect example. Emboldened by tremendous community support for workplace fairness, workers are standing up for a voice on the job. Tomorrow, a majority of those workers will file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to request a union election to exercise their right to a voice with UFCW Local 271. The Nebraska Beef workers have already put the Workers' Bill of Rights to work for them on the shop floor. When the INS raided the plant last December, the agency detained more than 190 Latino workers. It also arrested plant managers for conspiring and executing a program that lures Mexican workers to Omaha with the promise of good jobs, transportation from the border, and decent living conditions. In the wake of the raid, Nebraska Beef sped up the production line despite having nearly 200 fewer workers to handle the work load. Many workers felt the speed of the line was just too fast?that the line speed was too dangerous to keep working. So the entire production department left the line and went to management to ask,"Slow the line down. We don't have enough people here to do this work safely." Nebraska Beef refused to listen to the workers' concerns about safety. Instead, it fired seven of the workers who were brave enough to stand up for their rights. The UFCW helped workers fight back by filing charges with the Labor Board. The NLRB issued a complaint charging Nebraska Beef with illegal retaliation against the workers and seeking reinstatement for the workers with back pay. When meatpacking workers understand their rights on the job, like the Nebraska Beef workers, they can join together without fear of reprisal to make their workplace safer, improve working conditions and create a fair work environment for all workers. Nebraska Beef workers want to protect their rights by organizing a union. Workers know that union representation is the best way to enforce the Nebraska Meatpacking Workers' Bill of Rights on the job. Today, the UFCW filed charges with the NLRB against Nebraska Beef for illegal interrogation of employees' union sentiments and conducting surveillance on its workers. Nebraska Beef should be placed on notice that not only are the eyes of the workers and the UFCW upon you as workers launch their organizing campaign, but also the eyes of Omaha's religious leaders, community members, union members and our elected officials. "Nebraska Beef workers have made it clear-they want union representation. The company should do the right thing and respect the workers' right to organize, recognize their wishes and cease all anti-worker retaliation," said Donna McDonald, President of UFCW Local 271. The UFCW has been working with Omaha Together/One Community to organize meatpacking workers in the Omaha area since last spring. Over the past four months, the UFCW and OTOC have continued to work closely with the workers at Nebraska Beef to seek justice for the fired workers and to mobilize current workers to stand up for a voice on the job. United Food and Commercial Workers Union: A Voice for Working America- www.ufcw.org |
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