Sean R. Crosier/Fort Morgan Times

Strikers meet outside Excel meatpacking plant in Colorado after walking off the job the day after a union meeting rejected a proposed six-year contract.

The walkout began one day after the union members, most of whom are Mexican and Central American immigrants, rejected a six-year contract in a 917-59 vote. The proposed pact had been approved by the company and the union negotiating committee of Teamsters Local 961. Some 2,050 workers employed at the plant process 4,200 cattle a day.

After the vote Local 961 president Douglas Whestine and Secretary-Treasurer Joe Hartl swore out complaints with the sheriff's department against two workers who walked out of the union meeting stating they would go on strike. Adan Morales, 28, and Enrique Soto, 31, were arrested by police that evening and charged with inciting a riot and harassment.

"We cannot continue to work under the conditions we now have," Morales said later. Morales has had wrist surgery and has lost movement in his hands.

"Tres años!" "Three years only!" shouted workers on the picket line. The pickets went up before first shift started in the early morning hours. Workers told reporters they planned to remain on strike until the last shift ended around 11:00 p.m. Company officials talked with the pickets on February 26 and agreed to have the strikers elect representatives to bring their views to the company. A meeting between the managers and the workers' representatives scheduled for February 27 was delayed, but Excel's spokesperson affirmed that it would take place.

Hartl, calling the strike "illegal," stated that he had no idea who was leading the walkout since Morales and Soto were locked up.

The contract offer included an immediate wage increase to $10 an hour and further raises to $11.40 by the end of the pact. It also included wage hikes for graded jobs and an increase in short-term disability payments from $165 per week to $200 per week. A workers' representative said that while the increase in pay looks good up front, the six-year period leaves workers no negotiating room for too long. Both Excel bosses and the officials of the union local told the press that a "misunderstanding" was at the root of the strike. Union officers said they had met with the membership before the negotiations started and said they would fight to increase their wages to $12.40 an hour by the end of the contract. "We told them that was only where we started negotiations from, but that we would end up with less than that," Whestine explained.

Excel has agreed to abide by terms of the expired contract until the company and the union can negotiate a new pact. Excel spokesman Mark Klein said that if the meeting goes well the company could reopen negotiations with the union as early as March 2.

A window was opened on working conditions at the plant in November 1998 when Excel was cited for 45 work violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, making the company subject to fines of up to $315,000, according to the Denver Post. The article reported that in May 1998, 24 workers were hospitalized after a spill of 12,000 pounds of ammonia at the plant.  
 

The wildcat strike strike by workers at the Excel meatpacking plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, ended with the striking unionists drafting a list of 14 demands to the company to be included in the contract negotiations. The workers, who are members of Teamsters Local 961, also elected three representatives who will be part of the local's negotiating team that is meeting with company officials.

The meat packers' demands include dropping the incitement-to-riot and other charges against Enrique Soto and Adan Morales, two leaders of the walkout; a three- or four-year contract instead of the proposed six-year pact; elimination of mandatory overtime; setting the speed on the production line based on the number of workers who are working on that line on a given day; a guarantee that every worker get at least one day off each week; and the increase of short-term disability payments to $200 per week. The strikers requested union representation on the factory floor throughout the workday to help deal with conflicts arising between workers and supervisors.

The workers also called for wage increases for each job classification, and an immediate raise in the base pay from $9.40 an hour to $10 an hour. They want the Excel bosses to ensure that workers get one week of vacation after one year on the job, two weeks after three years, three weeks after eight years, and four weeks after 12 years. The Fort Morgan Times reported that Teamsters Local 961 president Douglas Whetstine has asked the district attorney to drop charges against Soto and Morales. Soto is one of the three workers elected to the negotiating committee.  
 
 
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