| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 15, 2001 |
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Company Wage Offer Means Real Wage Loss for Rochelle Foods Workers Management at Rochelle Foods is demanding that workers accept a cut in their real wages over the four-year term of a proposed new contract. The pork processor is attempting to turn back the clock and force lower effective wage and higher health insurance cost levels on the 900 plant workers. Processing workers at comparable plants in the Midwest have seen a steady growth in their living standards as companies moved to reduce turnover and to maintain stable, productive work forces. Compared to other plants in the region, Rochelle Foods pays from one to two dollars an hour less. Rochelle Foods has lagged behind the industry, and now is attempting to drag down the rest of the industry with it. The company's current wage demand is below the inflation rate and would leave workers with about two percent less family purchasing power than they have now. The company would effectively cut wages even further with a management-demanded ten cent an hour increase in the employee cost of health insurance. The pork industry has enjoyed skyrocketing sales increases with a 51 percent average gain over the last four years, and exploding profits with a 129 percent average increase over the same period for the major producers, including the parent of Rochelle Foods. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1540 is conducting a contract and strike authorization vote today. A strike is possible as early as tomorrow. "The pork industry is fat with increased sales and profits," said Kevin Williamson, UFCW International Vice President and Local 1540 Trustee. "Workers will not settle for a bare-bones contract that leaves them with less than they have now. The UFCW is standing strong and the workers are united. We will do what it takes to make sure that workers and their families have a living wage and a decent standard of living." United Food and Commercial Workers Union: A Voice for Working America |
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