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UFCW Stewards

UFCW Steward Aims to Strengthen Membership in America’s Heartland

Apr 08, 2008

Luis Rosiles, a Tyson Foods worker and steward for Local 1546, has found his calling as an organizer in training for the UFCW’s Heartland Campaign.  Rosiles is part of a coordinated effort to target thousands of non-union packing and processing workers in the Midwest who need a voice on the job.  The new campaign is serving as a training ground for organizers like Rosiles, and the UFCW hopes to use the Heartland Campaign as a model for other UFCW organizers across the country.

Rosiles is on leave from his job as a worker at the Tyson Foods plant in Joslin, Illinois, where he served as a steward for Local 1546.  As a steward, Rosiles served as a significant link and conduit of information between union leadership and the workers at the Tyson Foods plant in Joslin, and had the advantage of knowing many of his fellow workers.  His new role as an organizer in the state of Nebraska presents the challenge of meeting and connecting with workers he has never met before and who may not be familiar with the benefits of joining a union.

“Some have a little bit of knowledge, some don’t,” said Rosiles.  “That’s what drives me—winning campaigns and helping people be united at work.

The changing demographics of the packing and processing industries have also posed a challenge for Rosiles, and many of the plants that he is working with in Nebraska have attracted immigrant workers from around the world.  Many of the immigrant workers he has approached are afraid of losing their jobs or unsure of their rights as workers in the U.S.  To counter that fear and uncertainty, Rosiles and other organizers have made a point to connect with workers outside of the workplace by visiting their places of worship and even their homes to show that the union is part of the larger community.

Rosiles believes that his experience as a steward has helped him hone his skills as an organizer, and encourages other UFCW stewards to get involved with organizing campaigns such as the Heartland Campaign in the Midwest.

“We need more leadership and people getting involved in plants,” said Rosiles.  “That’s what makes a union strong.”

For more information about the UFCW’s effort to provide workers with better wages and benefits in America’s Heartland and around the country, visit www.fairnessforfoodworkers.org.

UFCW Stewards

Work Safe: Monitor Line Speeds

Oct 08, 2007

In her nearly eight years on the job at the National Beef processing plant in Liberal, Kansas, Theresa Garcia has seen the injuries that workers suffer when line speeds are too fast. “Muscle strains, torn ligaments, carpal tunnel-all kinds of injuries happen when speeds are too fast and meat starts piling up and stacking up,” says Garcia, a UFCW Local 2 member who works as an ergonomics monitor at the plant.
Last year, UFCW members at the Liberal plant asked the union to look at the jobs and line speeds to determine if staffing was sufficient for workers to safely keep up with the work. The time study carried out by UFCW industrial engineers showed that the staffing for one job in-particular chuck-boning was insufficient. As a result, the company agreed to add five additional chuck-boners to the line. The increased staffing, Garcia says, has been “a really big help. Now they have more time to work on the product and do the job properly.”
As Garcia and other UFCW work-site leaders know all too well, injuries in meatpacking happen at a far greater rate than those in other manufacturing sectors. Working with knives in hand, struggling to keep up with unprecedented production demands, meatpacking workers are injured at three times the rate of other manufacturing workers.
A key reason is dangerous line speeds. To ensure workplace safety, industrial engineers who work with UFCW urge plant workers to keep a close watch to see that lines in their plants are moving at safe speeds. Aside from the potential for injury, line speeds that are too fast usually mean that some workers have to work through their breaks or have to work past quitting time to get the job done.

 

If you feel that the line at your plant is moving too fast, a first step is to ask for a copy of the company’s crew chart-a document that outlines the standard for how many staff should be assigned to each job. Often, you might find that the company is not in compliance with its own crewing standards.

 

If necessary, the union can have industrial engineers conduct a time study. Joseph Rezac, UFCW Local 22′s chief shop steward at the Hormel plant in Fremont, Nebraska, recommends gathering as much information as possible before seeking a time study or filing a grievance. “There’s more to this than just getting the numbers. You should look at the safety, the ergonomics, and get the company to explain why the speeds are set the way they are. The company knows we have the right to file a grievance, and they don’t want that to happen.”
It’s important to get all the facts. There are times when time studies show a line is in compliance, but someone may feel it’s too fast because their knives are dull or they’re fatigued or just having a bad day. Rezac, who has worked for Hormel for 23 years, adds that it’s not difficult to detect the signs of unsafe line speeds. “I’ll find out right away if the line speed is up…The meat is not going to be cut properly or not going to be cut at all.”
When you see that happening, he says, it’s time to step up and start asking for changes to ensure that you and your co-workers are working in a safe environment.

UFCW Stewards

Mentoring New Stewards Stregthens Our Union

Oct 08, 2006

When you decided to become a steward, you took a big step. Clearly you had the
leadership skills and passion it takes to stand up for your fellow workers. Yet there are certain parts about being a steward that no one can learn until they become one. The best way to prepare a new steward is to serve as a mentor and provide the motivation and guidance so that all our coworkers have someone who they can count on.
Doug Payton of Local 1546 remembers how nervous he was when he first became a steward. A three-year steward at the Tyson plant in Josslyn, Ill., Payton knows firsthand how important it is to mentor new stewards. “I look at new stewards as an addition to the
family. We need to show them we are here to support one another.” If it weren’t for the older stewards who took him under their wings, Payton would have had a much more difficult time learning the ropes.
Becoming a steward means adding responsibility that presents a whole new set of challenges.
Even though new stewards are trained to face these new obstacles,nothing replaces the lessons learned from personal experience. “You learn as you go. When you start, there’s no way of knowing everything there is to know about being a good steward.” That’s why it’s important to reach out to new stewards and share the knowledge you have gained throughout the years.

Payton makes it a point to befriend new stewards. He’ll approach new stewards and let
them know they can come to him whenever they need help or advice, and makes it clear that asking a lot of questions aids the learning process. “A lot of times the solution to a problem isn’t spelled out in the contract. Not everything is black and white and new stewards can always count on us to help them deal with the different shades of gray.”

Payton knows how much of a steward’s effectiveness depends on how a particular situation is approached, so he offers advice based on the tactics which have worked for him under similar circumstances. This involves making sure new stewards know how to address management and deal with specific supervisors to better communicate the concerns of coworkers.

It’s also important to keep new stewards motivated. After years of being a steward, the hardest thing for Payton is still accepting that you can’t win every battle. When he sees new stewards getting frustrated or discouraged, he reminds them of their important role in the union. “When new stewards aren’t able to help a worker, I tell them it’s just one apple in the
whole tree. We hate that it fell off, but we have to fight for the other apples. We need to stay focused on the big picture.”
Payton still looks to his senior stewards for advice and inspiration. All stewards can learn from
one another because everyone has a different approach. Payton points out that sometimes the tactics of different stewards can be integrated—that’s how stronger and more effective stewards who are ready to deal with different kinds of situations are built. “We
are always learning from one another. Knowledge is power— that’s why we have to make sure
new stewards are prepared.”
In the end, by serving as a mentor, Payton not only helps to develop better stewards, he also contributes to building a more powerful union.