Posted on 11/17/2006 9:46:25 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
In a move highly unusual for nonunion workers, more than 500 employees walked out yesterday at the Smithfield Packing Company’s hog-killing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., the largest pork-processing plant in the world.
Workers involved in the walkout said it was fueled by anger over Smithfield’s recent decision to fire several dozen immigrants who the company said had presented false Social Security numbers in applying for a job.
Several of the workers said their action had largely crippled production at the plant, which employs 5,500 people and slaughters 32,000 hogs a day. But Smithfield officials said production had merely been slowed a little.
The walkout coincided with a big push by the United Food and Commercial Workers to unionize the Smithfield employees in Tar Heel, about two-thirds of them Hispanic immigrants. A number of workers said the discontent stemmed not just from the recent firings but also from brusque treatment, the speed of the production line and widespread injuries.
“They were tired of the working conditions,” said Gene Bruskin, director of the union’s organizing drive. “They want a permanent solution to the problems there.”
Mr. Bruskin said the walkout had been organized by the plant’s immigrant workers and not by the union. But Dennis Pittman, a Smithfield spokesman, maintained that it had been carried out in close cooperation with the union, as a way of pressuring the company to halt its fight against organizing efforts.
Mr. Pittman said 350 workers had walked out during the morning shift, and 200 during the afternoon shift. But several employees involved put the number at about 700 on the morning shift and some 500 on the afternoon shift.
Several weeks ago Smithfield Packing, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc., sent hundreds of workers “no-match letters,” notifying them that the name and
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"Workers involved in the walkout said it was fueled by anger over Smithfield’s recent decision to fire several dozen immigrants who the company said had presented false Social Security numbers in applying for a job."
They should be given a corporate citizen award. Fire the walkouts.
I'd be very interested in the Social Security credentials of every one of these people.
Keep walking.
good.
Show up for work or be terminated.
How long before a union organizer shows up to sign them up?
Let 'em go!
I read somewhere that they got 600 no match letters. 600 out of 5500 employees means 10% of their workforce was probably illegal.
That does not even include the number of employees that are using someone else's ss# fraudulently. Those do not come back as no match.
ICE should have been out front waiting.
I see ... more ILLEGALS doing the jobs Americans won't do?
Can someone tell Bush about this?
Send in the PINKERTONS!
They chose to work there. They can choose not to work there.
Bye, y'all.
Being in the union won't help them if they are using fake SSN's. These people should be arrested.
Smithfield Workers Walk Out Of N Carolina Plant In Protest [undocumented workers' protest]
Nowhere does it say that the company faces large fines if they are caight employing illegals. The company and officers have more at stake than a few jobs. If these people walked out, they can walk to the next place and look for work.........
Future Scrappleface headline??
"Pork Plant Shuts Down -- CAIR Applauds Religious Progress"
That's because they are illegal. Is the union really trying to tell the plant that they have to hire illegal immigrants?
North Carolina's `Right-to-Work statute
ARTICLE 10.
Declaration of Policy as to Labor Organizations.
§ 95-78. Declaration of public policy.
The right to live includes the right to work. The exercise of the right to work must be protected and maintained free from undue restraints and coercion. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of North Carolina that the right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union or labor organization or association. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95-79. Certain agreements declared illegal.
Any agreement or combination between any employer and any labor union or labor organization whereby persons not members of such union or organization shall be denied the right to work for said employer, or whereby such membership is made a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer, or whereby any such union or organization acquires an employment monopoly in any enterprise, is hereby declared to be against the public policy and an illegal combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in the State of North Carolina. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95-80. Membership in labor organization as condition of employment prohibited.
No person shall be required by an employer to become or remain a member of any labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95-81. Nonmembership as condition of employment prohibited.
No person shall be required by an employer to abstain or refrain from membership in any labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or continuation of employment. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95.82. Payment of dues as condition of employment prohibited.
No employer shall require any person, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment, to pay any dues, fees, or other charges of any kind to any labor union or labor organization. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95-83. Recovery of damages by persons denied employment.
Any person who may be denied employment or be deprived of continuation of his employment in violation of G.S. 95-80, 95-81 and 95-82 or of one or more of such sections, shall be entitled to recover from such employer and from any other person, firm, corporation, or association acting in concert with him by appropriate action in the courts of this State such damages as he may have sustained by reason of such denial or deprivation of employment. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
§ 95-84. Application of Article.
The provisions of this Article shall not apply to any lawful contract in force on the effective date hereof but they shall apply in all respects to contracts entered into thereafter and to any renewal or extension of any existing contract. (Enacted March 18, 1947.)
Hasta luego, amigos......
Lock the doors behind 'em, check all their documentation, and have some ICE buses waiting in the parking lot, to take 'em to the airport, sling 'em in the holds of a couple of cargo planes, and fly 'em back down to Meheeco.
}:-)4
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