UFCW Pride in St. Joe
"Once we have a union contract, we’ll have representation, we’ll have good wages, benefits, and job security—the things that people really need, whether they have kids or if retirement is waiting a few years down the road. And we’ll have pride in our workforce. Pride is a big thing here—being able to work and take care of yourself and your family. And now there’s gonna be a lot of pride right here in St. Joe.” –Chuck Ham, Local 2
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Chuck Ham, Local 2 |
“We really needed union jobs in St. Joe—jobs with 40 hours and benefits,” says Sherry Rowland, a new worker at the Triumph plant. Rowland lost her job at Quaker Oats when it closed in 2001 and acknowledges the effect that numerous plant closings have had on her community. “You can’t raise a full time family on a part time job,” she says. “St. Joe has always been known for its big industries. Our unionized plant will help bring St. Joe back to what it used to be.”
Vicki Lorenz agrees. “This is a chance to get our lives back. I was UFCW Pride in St. Joe Chuck Ham, Local 2 union for 23 years, and my plant closed. I was unemployed for 17 months. Now I‘m looking forward because a union contract brings better wages, benefits, dignity and equal rights—all those things. It means stability and security, and a chance at having a healthy, stable family.”
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UFCW Local 2 and Triumph Foods worked together in a unique partnership to bring the plant—and more than 2000 union jobs—to the city. Several years ago, another company tried to bring a plant to the city, but neighbors worried that the hog slaughter would be a dirty business and they launched a campaign to keep the company out. Years later, after numerous other plant closings, attitudes had changed.
Leadership of UFCW Local 2 and Triumph Foods approached the city council and the mayor together to discuss the plant. And they worked together to bring the community on board. They dispelled fears about cleanliness, explaining that Triumph would build a modern, clean facility outfitted with the latest technologies. They talked to lawmakers about bringing a growing, unionfriendly company to town with more than 2000 jobs that couldn’t be outsourced or offshored. And Triumph showed its commitment to the city of St. Joe by bringing its corporate headquarters to town.
Unlike many other companies, Triumph also showed its commitment to its future workforce by providing workers with a free and fair choice on union representation. Once the workers made that choice, they respected it.
“Triumph Foods is a company that recognizes the value of a union workforce because of a good working relationship already in existence,” says Local 2 President Tom Price. Triumph Foods produces under the Seaboard Farms label, and UFCW Local 2 represents workers at Seaboard Farms’ Guymon, Okla. facility. “It’s possible to get this kind of relationship when you have UFCW core industry organizing. When you have union density, it means that UFCW knows the business in and out. We know how the plants work, and that they can be clean and bring good jobs. We could help the company be good ambassadors to the city while building union density. Union density is good for the community, business and especially for the workers.”
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