Vol. 71/No. 31      September 3, 2007

“They’ve been firing about 50 a week for the last three weeks,” said Luis Martínez, 31, who works in sanitation at the Nacogdoches plant.

Pilgrim’s Pride has plants with more than 35,000 workers in ten states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas; and about 5,000 in Mexico.

The plant here is organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 408. It has about 2,400 employees and operates three daily production shifts. The majority of workers in both plants are Latino.

“In my opinion, they also want to weed out those that have been here for 10 years or even more and are making pretty good money,” Martínez said. “As they fire people, they are bringing in about that number to train.”

Company officials say they are taking part in the program by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement police to get employers to check names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and immigration status through an Internet-based system.

Workers at Pilgrim’s Pride plants process 44 million birds a week. The company, with revenues of nearly $6 billion a year, saw its stock rise almost 60 percent over the past year. Lonnie Pilgrim, the 79-year-old co-founder of the company and its senior chairman, has been a prominent promoter of the U.S. government’s “guest worker” program. Rhonda Strange, who works the day shift as a de-boner, said she was angry about the firings. “It’s not right just letting these people go—a few at a time from each department,” she said. “They’re given no time to get whatever they need to stay here.

“There was a big meeting in the plant with the company and the union there,” Strange said. “Pilgrim told us they were going to let go up to 1,500 workers.

“I’m a union member and so is most everyone in my department,” she said. “We’re worried this is going to affect all of us.” Their contract comes up in September. The union is trying to win a wage increase and other basic demands.

Not all workers in the plant oppose the company’s attack, and some have conflicting views. One U.S.-born worker who asked that his name not be used said, “I think you have to draw the line somewhere with workers that come here illegally.” He added, “But I think they’re going too far with those raids, splitting up families and all. I’m not for that.”

Strange said when she was first hired 12 years ago, Black workers like herself and others born in the U.S. made up the majority of the workforce. Over time, as the bosses cranked up the line speed and sought to drive down job conditions, the company hired more immigrant workers, hoping to create a more easily exploited workforce.

Many of the workers here, however, have participated in protests demanding legalization of undocumented immigrants. On April 10 and May 1 of last year, workers shut down the two Texas plants, swelling the ranks of those who marched in downtown Lufkin for legal status for all immigrants.

Amanda Ulman and Bernardino Flores from Houston contributed to this article.
 
 
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