Tagged as food workers

Power in Numbers

Nov 11, 2011

As stewards, we understand that our ability to negotiate with our employers comes from the power of our numbers. When more of us stick together and stand up for our rights, our voice is stronger and workers have more strength at the bargaining table to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions.

We know that power in numbers is more than just a union adage — it’s actually reflected in our wages and benefits. On average, union meatpacking workers make 15% more than nonunion meatpacking workers. And in socalled right-to-work states, where workers don’t automatically belong to our union, average pay is 10% less than in other union plants. Wages in these types of plants correlate with membership: fewer members mean lower wages. Fortunately, the correlation works both ways: with more union members, workers earn higher wages. And when workers in one plant join a union, that tends to raise the bar on wages and working conditions not just for themselves — but for workers in nearby plants that compete for the same pool of employees.
That’s why it’s important to all meat packing and food processing workers that more people are joining our union. During October and November, nearly 4,000 workers who work for National Beef in Dodge City, Kansas, Farmland Foods in Carroll, Iowa, Nebraska Prime in Hastings, Nebraska, and JBS in Plainwell, Michigan voted to join the UFCW for a union voice on the job.

These new members will give each and every one of us a stronger voice when we bring our concerns to the companies and it will force management to really listen to workers. When companies know that they are dealing with a small number of workers, it’s easier to ignore worker requests at the bargaining table and disregard safety and dignity on the job.
Clemente Torres, a steward and a 9-year veteran at the Cargill meatpacking plant in Dodge City, Kansas knows this well. He works across the street from the National Beef plant where workers just voted to join his union, and he played a key role in organizing the workers there. “In my 9 years as steward I’ve seen our membership increase because workers can see what being united can do. Many Cargill workers worked at National Beef previously, or have relatives or spouses working there now. They understand the real difference is the power workers have during negotiations. If we are a stronger union with more members, we will be able to negotiate better benefits,” Torres says. “National Beef andCargill are Dodge City’s biggest employers. Now that workers in both places are union members, we have thousands of workers speaking together with one voice to raise the bar for working standards in the whole community.”
For workers, our bargaining power is measured two ways: by the number of union members in our individual plants, and by the number of union members in the entire meatpacking and food processing industry. If you work for a union company that operates non-union plants, talk to your co-workers about how non union operations bring your wages down. And ask your manager why your company insists on operating non-union.
If new workers at your plant don’t automatically become UFCW members, tell them you belong to the UFCW and explain to them that the company doesn’t simply provide better wages, benefits, and vacation days but they’re a result of bargaining with workers— union members like yourself.

UFCW Stewards

Stewards: Keeping Our Workplace Safe

Oct 11, 2011

Many UFCW members in meatpacking, poultry and food processing plants may not be aware that they work around anhydrous ammonia – a highly hazardous chemical that could trigger an evacuation of their plant as well as the surrounding community.

Under OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard, workers and their representatives have special rights to action and information in every facility with over 10,000 pounds of ammonia. Most plants that have to cool large storage or production areas use well over 10,000 pounds in their ammonia refrigeration systems.

Since an ammonia release could affect workers in any area of the plant, stewards can benefit from a basic knowledge of the hazards of ammonia and the steps the employer must take to protect workers.

The Process Safety Management Standard gives stewards the right to ALL information the company has about their ammonia refrigeration system. The company also has to have a system in place for workers to express their concerns and to receive responses about those concerns.

“Anhydrous ammonia is a deadly material,” said Jeff Dillener, a steward at Cargill and member of UFCW Local 230 in Ottumwa, Iowa. “As a UFCW steward, I have been trained to follow exact procedures in handling this material so that I can keep my fellow workers safe from harm.”

Every three years, the company has to conduct an audit of their compliance with the Process Safety Management regulations. Stewards can request to see the recommendations of the past two audits. If the company is carrying over the same recommendations from one audit to the next, that’s a good indication that they are not taking their own Process Safety Management program seriously.

The regulations for highly hazardous chemicals are different from the general health and safety regulations for regular production operations. One of the big differences is that breakdowns are not acceptable in ammonia refrigeration systems. Components of the ammonia refrigeration system must be replaced BEFORE they reach their breaking point! Every component of an ammonia refrigeration system (including the miles of piping on the roof) should have an estimated life cycle and a scheduled replacement date. This system of fixing things before they break is called Mechanical Integrity. Since ammonia refrigeration systems are closed systems, the ammonia never should get out of the system into the air. A leak or a release is an indication that the system is not being maintained the way the law requires it to be.

An important provision of the Process Safety Management Standard is the requirement for the company to think through changes to the system BEFORE they make those changes. They must document this process, which is called Management of Change. OSHA has made it very clear that personnel changes, such as changes in staffing levels, hours, outsourcing and training, that have an impact on the ammonia refrigeration system must go through the Management of Change process. Members can ask to be part of this process and weigh in on the possible consequences of the change being considered. This is a way for workers to fight dangerous reductions in Refrigeration Technician staffing levels or dangerous increases in mandatory overtime. Contact the UFCW Health and Safety Office at (202) 223-3111 for information about training.

UFCW Stewards

Global Companies, Global Campaigns, Global Unions

Jun 11, 2010

We work in a global industry, and UFCW stewards are part of a global federation of workers. In a time when Swift and Pilgrim’s Pride are both owned by JBS, a Brazilian company, when Plumrose is owned by the European company Danish Crown, and when Kraft Foods is acquiring the Britain-based Cadbury, stewards all over the world face the same issues and the same corporations as UFCW stewards here at home.
As more and more companies become multinationals, it is more important than ever that UFCW stewards interact with other stewards from around the world. When stewards connect across the globe to exchange strategies for keeping their coworkers safe and making sure working and living standards rise equitably across borders, the payoff is huge.
That’s why at a recent meeting in Omaha, the UFCW welcomed stewards and labor leaders who represent workers at JBS facilities in Brazil and Australia. JBS-affiliated stewards from several different UFCW locals had the opportunity to meet with these international representatives and share strategies for tackling challenges in the workplace and dealing with management on a variety of issues.
In the course of the meeting, one thing became clear: keeping lines of communications open among stewards across the world is crucial. If we keep in touch with our brothers and sisters in Australia, in England, in Brazil, as issues arise, we can get ahead of them and make sure things run smoothly in the workplace.
To that end, UFCW locals have also taken the lead in fostering international solidarity. UFCW locals from the United States have visited Brazil, to see how JBS plants there operate. Another important conversation started three years ago when Local 1776 was negotiating its contract with the Italian specialty meats company Citterio USA, in Freeland, PA. With assistance from the UFCW International, the Local turned to its brothers and sisters at Citterio’s plants in Italy for additional information about the companyand its practices overseas. In November 2009, a delegation of Italian union leaders and Italian Citterio plant stewards came to the United States to continue the conversation.
“Meeting with the Italian stewards from Citterio was great for us because we realized we are all dealing with the same company and facing the same issues. It was really helpful to have a chance to get together and discuss our experiences. I feel like now I understand the company I work for a lot better. I hope we can keep this connection going,” said Mike Palmer, a Citterio steward for Local 1776.
The visitors attended a 1776 Executive Board meeting, toured the Cargill case ready meat plant in Hazleton (the union also represents Cargill workers in Italy), visited the innovative Brown’s ShopRite at 52nd and Jefferson Sts. in Philadelphia, walked through a Walmart, and, most importantly, spent many hours meeting with 1776 Citterio Stewards to share experiences and best practices.
The UFCW also works with UNI Global Union and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations to strategize around the issues food and commercial workers face every day, in every country around the world.