Dian and hundreds of other workers among the 2,500 at the nonunion plant walked off the job to protest arbitrary disciplining of employees by the bosses, and denial of pay for the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. It was the most sustained and unified strike action ever taken at the plant, located here in this rural area about 95 miles south of Newport News, Virginia.

"I had never been on strike before," said Patrice Grissom, a deboner. "But I'm ready to go back out. It was amazing and fun. It feels kind of good to be an example for other workers. I would have liked to have kept together and stayed out the rest of the week." Both Dian and Grissom were eager to tell their stories after their first days back at work.

Day shift workers in the cooler department led the walkout on Friday morning January 21 after they received their paychecks. A worker involved in a drive now taking place to win union recognition described in detail what happened. He asked that his name not be used for fear of victimization by the company. Workers are now signing cards for an election to bring in the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. The UFCW failed to win enough votes to secure recognition after two previous organizing efforts.

"We walked out and were followed by the workers in the weight, price and label department," he said, "and then the workers from the deboning department, one of the largest in the plant. Eighty to 90 percent walked out. Those who stayed in tended to be older workers." A record snowfall of up to 17 inches, compounded by inadequate road plowing by local and state officials, made it impossible for many to get to work the week before. According to the cooler worker, one of the plant managers, Jeff Stalls, announced that workers would be issued disciplinary "occurrences" for absence and lateness regardless of the snow and ice. Workers with four or five "occurrences" would be fired and those who were absent the day before or the day after King Day would not be paid for the holiday. To make matters worse, Stalls announced that workers would have to work 90 days straight to have an occurrence taken off, instead of the usual 28.

Workers reported that one person was fired for being late even though she was right outside the plant, pushing her car through the snow. The company also announced that those who had accidents on the way to work had to go into work as soon as they got out of the hospital.

"After the checks came in without the King Day pay, we just threw up our hands and walked out of the plant," said a worker in the deboning department. "I think the guys in the cooler started it, but it was hard to say who started it. I went because others went, but I think we did right."

As the walkout began, several hundred workers gathered along the road outside the plant while others walked off their jobs but stayed inside, partly to avoid the bitter cold. The next day, a Saturday, work was scheduled. This time several hundred workers gathered outside the gates and decided not to go into the plant.

The cooler worker described the scene: "At about 1:00 p.m. the Perdue complex manager, Lester Gray, came out and talked to us through the fence. He said the company would drop the occurrences and everyone would get paid for King's holiday. Gray, who is white, went on to say that Martin Luther King was a great man and that he, Gray, sometimes wished he was a Black African-American. We did not appreciate him saying that.

"The next workday, Monday, again we gathered outside the gate. Some people went back to work but there were still hundreds outside and many inside the plant standing around and not working. We talked about the need for a $1 or $2 an hour raise. Tuesday and Wednesday there was no work because of another snow storm. Thursday we decided to go back to work."

Another worker with 15 years experience said workers outside "wrote down what our demands were now, including a raise to $9.00 an hour, in addition to the occurrences issues and the King Day pay. We chose a few people to bring them to the company." Workers on the production line currently top out at $7.60 an hour.

Even though the workers went back after five days without a pay raise, everyone interviewed was encouraged by the victory on dropping the disciplinary "occurrences" and the payment to all workers for Martin Luther King's holiday. Many workers feel that they are not done fighting the company. There is a lot of discussion about new battles ahead.

"People are talking about walking out again, but the company has said they will start firing," said the worker from the deboning department. "On the company bulletin board today they posted that even though there are rumors, Perdue will never give a dollar raise. But I am confident we can fight for a pay raise. If they keep pushing us, we will have to."

Grissom reported that just before the workers decided to go back to work, the town commissioner had started to "talk like they were behind the company, saying they could fire us if they wanted to. I think that got some of the workers intimidated. And I couldn't stay out alone."

Another worker remarked on the importance of the King holiday: "Of all the holidays for them to try to mess with, they chose that one!" Ninety percent of the plant workers are Black, and of those who are on the production line, almost all are women. There are a relatively small number of Latino and white workers, some of whom also joined the walkout.

Every worker interviewed at the plant gate, in their homes, and at a nearby restaurant, spoke about the brutal conditions inside the Perdue plant. Practically every worker in deboning has carpal tunnel syndrome, a debilitating injury to the nerves in the hands caused by repetitive motion.

The deboning worker said, "I got it after two months. When I went into the office of the company nurse they put me on 'light duty,' but it really wasn't so light. It was just someone else's job, then they switched me back after two months" as a way to cope with her injury.

Workers debone birds at a rate of 32 per minute, and make six cuts on each. One worker recounted a time when a worker cut the person next to her accidentally.

Donna Tann, a Perdue worker, described the difficulty of trying to see a doctor not paid by the company in this rural area. She had to travel nearly an hour, and then after accepting her insurance card, the clinic sent her a bill anyway.

Bonny Jones, 19 years old, said that he worked in deboning "long enough--nine hours--to know they didn't pay enough for the work. But I signed a union card while I was there. It's good they walked out. They should have a union, because it will help them to fight for better wages."

Dian said, "The company treats us bad but when the union comes they baby us and say they'll give us a raise. I think the union will be voted in this time. It should have happened before. I feel like if there's no change now, there never will be a change." He said he was very proud of taking part in the strike at the plant.

A 20-year-old worker added, "Things still aren't right. The company is now saying in April there will be a 20 cent raise. But we're not through yet."

Other workers in the area strongly supported the strike, including a number who had quit or had been fired from Perdue over the years. Several of these former workers are volunteers at the Center for Women's Economic Alternatives (CWEA), in the nearby town of Ahoskie. The CWEA helps workers file disability and unemployment claims. Volunteers from CWEA have leafleted the plant a number of times urging workers to take advantage of their rights under state and federal laws.

Two CWEA volunteers we spoke to, Marilyn Gilliam and Mary Ann Grainger, workers fired by Perdue after developing carpal tunnel, rushed to the plant as soon as they heard about the walkout to offer their solidarity.

John Jacobs, who works in the live haul division as a chicken catcher, said they make $2.58 per thousand chickens they catch. One chicken catcher who has worked there five years reported that he felt they should walk out too. "I feel we are underpaid," he said. "The plant workers' check is based on the hour, but ours is based on how many chickens we catch. We don't get paid for waiting for the truck, or travel time. And we don't get any sick days. Our average take-home pay is $350-$400, for a seven-day week.

"The small farmers we catch from are getting screwed over by Perdue too," he said. "I don't feel afraid trying to organize. In live haul, it's half older workers, and us younger workers have been trying to push them to fight back too."

Elena Tate is a student in New York City and a member of the Young Socialists. Stu Singer is a member of the United Transportation Union. Mary Martin, a member of the International Association of Machinists from Washington, D.C., also contributed to this article.  
 
 
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