She wanted to know about their strike "because we may have to prepare ourselves to do the same thing. What kinds of things did you have to do? How much money are you taking home? How did you look at things when you started and how did you look at things now? How do you feel?"

Castro, who works in Dakota Premium's boning department, was one of seven workers from that meatpacking plant who visited the Teamsters picket line here August 12 to offer solidarity with their struggle and find out more about how each group of fighting workers can advance their struggles. Her question indicated the fact that a growing number of workers at Dakota, who recently voted in United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 789 and are now taking the next steps to establish the union, are thinking about the need for another strike against the company.

The packinghouse bosses have given every reason for workers to conclude that such action will be necessary. At a meeting called by the company August 10, a few hours before a well-publicized union meeting, company manager Steve Cortinas dismissed all the workers' complaints and ridiculed the strength of the union, according to workers who attended. "The union is planning a strike," Cortinas stated. "That won't accomplish anything."

The manager was quick to organize that meeting because a rumor had been going around the plant about the need for another strike.

"This came from an informal discussion among workers about how to deal with the line speed, and one of his snitches ran up to tell him," explained Miguel Olvera, one of the pro-union workers. "But this shows the company is afraid of what we can do."

Workers at Dakota Premium first struck the company for seven hours June 1 to protest the line speed and to oppose the company's practice of forcing meat packers to continue working while they were injured, among other issues. They were able to win some concessions, and launched a campaign to win a union in the plant. Although the company fought the union-organizing drive with lies, firings, provocations, and other attacks, workers convinced each other of the need to be united and won a union representation vote on July 21 by a 112-71 margin.

The company has filed a challenge to the election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

More than 200 meat packers work at the Dakota Premium slaughterhouse. The big majority are Spanish-speaking immigrants. Dakota Premium is owned by Rosen's Diversified Inc. The corporation's beef slaughtering operations make it one of the top 10 beef producers in the United States.  
 
Workers challenge company assertions
At the August 10 company meeting, Cortinas claimed that the July 21 union election was a fraud. He asserted that the line speed remained the same, at 95 heads of cattle per hour, although workers in the plant have calculated the speed to be above 115 per hour. "The work seems heavier because the cattle are bigger," he stated, a false allegation, according to workers on the line.

The plant manager also repeated his claim that two workers had been fired because their work permits were not in order, not because they were supporters of the union. "If a worker does not have his immigration papers in order, we have to send him home," Cortinas declared. But this assertion was belied by the fact that one of the workers was brought back the day after he was dismissed, due to pressure generated by the union in publicizing these cases in the union's bilingual factory newsletter, The Workers' Voice.

The company's stance was quickly challenged, however. "The election was fair," stated Miguel Olvera, a worker in the boning department, who stood up and rebutted the manager at his own meeting. "I was a monitor and I saw everything that went on. I assure you that the election was fair. The union won a clear majority. We won the union!"

Another worker, Samuel Farley, who also works in the boning department, stated, "I back everything that Miguel Olvera just said. It was a fair election."

He then asked for translation of his remarks into Spanish, the language of the big majority of the workers. Cortinas offered to translate himself. Farley declined the offer.

Farley, one of the few workers in the plant who is Black and a leader of the union's in-plant leadership committee, has continued to face special discrimination and harassment from the bosses.

Even though Farley is now much faster than his trainer on the line, supervisors are constantly harassing him because of his support for the union. The company has a history of discrimination against Black workers, going back to the previous attempt to organize a union.  
 
Union meeting
The mood at the union meeting a few hours later was serious, according to workers who were there. This was the first general meeting since the July 21 victory in the union election. About half of the workers in the boning and packaging departments attended.

The main business was to discuss the need for a leadership structure of the union inside the plant. A proposal was put forward, discussed, and adopted for the election of shop stewards. Nominations were taken.

A proposal for a "Traveling Commission" was presented, discussed, and adopted. This commission would be composed of union members who travel to other meatpacking plants in the area to link up with workers who face similar problems and arrange for mutual support.

A first effort will be to join up with workers at Long Prairie Packing, the sister plant of Dakota Premium, located 100 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.

Workers also discussed the importance of fighting against the attempt by Rosen's Diversified to overturn the democracy of the vote. The multimillion-dollar corporation filed a complaint with the NLRB challenging the validity of the election. The company claims the union offered $10,000 to each worker and that it threatened workers with calling the immigration cops.

The union has answered these allegations as ridiculous and pointed to the record of the union informing workers of their rights, including the rights of immigrants during the organizing drive. It explained that the corporation's only goal is to slow down the process of negotiations.

The NLRB has set a hearing for August 29 to determine the validity of the com-pany's allegations.  
 
'The union is us'
One worker, a leader of the union-organizing fight, addressed a remark to the president of UFCW Local 789, William Pearson. "You said you were going to get us a contract by October. Well, the clock is ticking," he said. According to workers who were present, Pearson replied calmly and clearly, saying, "The company shows no respect for the workers with this challenge, and we must continue with the important process of elections that is starting at this meeting today."

Miguel Olvera, another leader of the leadership committee, also addressed this question by saying, "The union is not these walls or offices. The union is in the plant. It is our own strength. A strong contract will be won with our efforts."

Other workers joined the discussion. José Mateo, another leader who works in the boning department, proposed at the meeting that workers organize a petition demanding the company respect the validity of the vote.

"They are telling me that my vote is not worth anything. We do not need another election. We already won. With a petition we can register the will of the majority again, and I want the NLRB to see it," he said in a tone of outrage.

A brief discussion took place after the union meeting on the importance of reaching out to the strikers at Pepsi. The unionists at the Pepsi Bottling Group plant have been out on strike since June 11 and are facing many of the same challenges as the workers at Dakota Premium. At both plants, the work is destructive to the body and the bosses have been unyielding in their position.

Workers at Pepsi, members of Teamsters Local 792, are demanding a wage increase above the 2.7 percent yearly raise offered by the company, and the possibility of early retirement after 30 years of employment. Strikers have been very active, mounting sizable pickets in the afternoons, organizing leafleting brigades to public events to get out the word about their boycott of Pepsi products, and deploying members to follow scab trucks to their delivery destinations to set up picket lines.

A number of Dakota Premium workers expressed interest in going to the Pepsi strike lines that Saturday. Seven workers participated in the event.

"The striking Teamsters were very impressed with our show of solidarity," stated Francisco Picado, a full-time union organizer for UFCW Local 789 who was part of the visit. "They ate it up. The meat packers in turn were very impressed with the strength of the fight against Pepsi. They were struck by the fact that only one union member has been crossing the picket line. They wanted to know how to prepare a strike like this."

Leonard Miller contributed to this article.