Conditions in the plant are deplorable. Workers start at $7.15 per hour--the minimum wage in the province of British Columbia. Few make $10 an hour, even after several years of employment. There are no medical, dental, or pension benefits. Overtime is mandatory with workers regularly putting in 12 hours a day, six days a week. During the busy season around Thanksgiving and Christmas this climbs to 14-16 hours a day. Over the last few years the line speed has increased as the number of chickens killed daily has soared from 25-30,000 a day to 60-65,000.

The company ignores seniority rights, which have been standard in the industry for more than 30 years. When there is a shortage of work, the bosses arbitrarily pick who goes home after four hours. "If you question their decision you're told you don't have a right to ask. They say leave now or clean out your locker," said a female worker who asked that her name not to be used. The need to end company harassment and for workers to be treated with respect is expressed by everyone on the picket line.

Superior Poultry is part of the Pollon group--the largest producer of poultry in the province. Hallmark Poultry in Vancouver remains unorganized but 80 workers at Colonial Farms near Chilliwack won the right to be represented by the UFCW about two years ago. They won a contract similar to what Local 1518 members are fighting for.

The employers at Superior Poultry have transformed the plant into a fortress. Tarps and garbage bags cover the fences to prevent strikers from seeing inside. The bosses have also put barbed wire on top of the fences and hired a troop of private security goons called the "White Knights," who harass strikers from atop platforms on a raised forklift.

"What's a white girl like you doing on this picket line?" one goon provocatively asked a strike supporter. This racist comment referred to the fact that the vast majority of workers at Superior Poultry are immigrants--from India, the Philippines, and other semicolonial countries. "Stop Immigrant Exploitation at Superior Poultry," reads one of the picket signs. One worker from Central America was happy to receive leaflets about an immigrant rights march taking place August 6 across the border in the state of Washington.

The plant is still operating with about 50 workers who have crossed the picket line. The strikers explained to Militant reporters that the company had used small favors to convince a section of the workforce that they were better off without the union.

Tension is high on the picket lines when the scabs enter and leave the plant, driving vans and trucks very aggressively. An accident nearly occurred when a striker fell under the wheels of a truck exiting the premises. On August 2, Superior Poultry's application for an injunction limiting the number of picketers was rejected.

The strikers are reaching out and winning support for their fight. During a union information session on developments around the contract at Fletchers Fine Foods, where workers are also members of UFCW Local 1518, one unionist pointed to the strike by Superior Poultry workers as an example of how to fight back. The bosses at Fletchers are demanding major wage and benefit rollbacks in a new contract. The previous agreement expired May 31.

At the picket line, Richard, a worker in a nonunion recycling plant, said that he "really wants the workers to win because now they make people go so fast for the money they make." One striker's husband, who works at Tree Island Steel, a Teamsters-organized plant, has been getting his co-workers to visit the picket line to show their support.

UFCW Local 1518 has posted material on its web site ( www.ufcw1518.com) to inform people of developments in the strike.

Beverly Bernardo is a member of UFCW Local 1518 at Fletchers Fine Foods in Vancouver. Paul Kouri, a member of the Teamsters, contributed to this article.