"Now it is reality," said Roberto Sarmiento, a worker in the packaging department at Dakota Premium Foods for 11 years. "The union will increase our strength."

Juana Hernandez, a worker in packaging, said, "Workers are fighting for dignity and respect in the plant. We have to stop the company from forcing us to work when we are injured. I see it all the time, such as workers who have injured their arms. The company has them working with just one arm. We are fighting for a contract, and for our dignity and respect as human beings."

The July 2000 election victory came as a product of a seven-week organizing drive that began with a seven-hour sit-down strike in June. Workers organized the strike to protest harsh working conditions and the company's doubling of the production line speed. It paved the way for the next step in the struggle, the fight to win a contract.

After the union victory, Rosen's Diversified Inc., which owns Dakota Premium Foods, filed charges with the regional NLRB seeking to overturn the election. The company refused to recognize the union or begin contract negotiations despite the majority vote in favor of representation. The bosses claimed the union had agents working in the plant who intimidated and pressured workers into voting for the union, and promised thousands of dollars and work permits to the mostly immigrant workforce if they backed the organizing drive. The company went so far as to assert that union supporters threatened to turn other workers over to the INS if they didn't cooperate.

But in November 2000, a hearing officer for NLRB Region 18 rejected the company's claims in a 64-page ruling, concluding that the employer's objections were without merit and certified the union election. Rosen's Diversified then appealed the election with the national NLRB in Washington, seeking again to overturn the union victory.

The filing of the appeal effectively stalled the union recognition process, giving the company many months during which to wage an antiunion campaign, hoping turnover at the plant and frustration among workers would lay the groundwork for reversing the union victory. But continued struggles and organizing by workers in the plant meant neither the company nor the NLRB could push aside the union. Nearly 14 months after the vote, the NLRB finally issued its second ruling.

The Workers' Voice, the newsletter of the union members at both Dakota Premium Foods and Long Prarie Packing, was distributed by union members August 31 announcing the union victory. Entitled, "Cause to Celebrate," the newsletter quoted the NLRB ruling: "IT IS CERIFIED that a majority of the valid ballots have been cast for the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 789, and that is the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the employees."

Workers in the plant were electrified upon hearing the announcement. In the packaging department, composed mainly of women, workers began chanting back and forth, "What do we have? UNION!" accompanied by sporadic hook banging and chanting around the production floors.
 
'Time for a contract'
Miguel Olvera, a boning worker and leader of the fight for the union, stated, "We have been waiting for this and fighting for this. We deserve the union in our plant. The time has come for the company to negotiate a contract."

This NLRB announcement comes in the midst of a sharp attack by the company on the union. Two workers from the boning department were called to management's office August 16 and directed to a room where an INS official and a local cop were waiting. Without any explanation from the company or the INS officer they were pressured into signing a voluntary deportation agreement, taken into custody, and then held at an immigrations office.

The company alleges the workers are guilty of forging more than $90,000 worth of company paychecks. So far Dakota Premium Foods has claimed no responsibility for the arrests, saying that it is the company's bank that carried out the investigation. The company has been unable to provide any proof that these individuals are guilty, and these workers have clearly stated that they are innocent.

One worker taken into custody was able to make bail. He is a younger brother of a worker that played a leading role in the organization of the sit-down strike. Union members have yet to find out the location of the other worker, one of eight in the boning department who was a prominent union supporter.

The INS presence in the plant received a timely response by union fighters. A meeting of workers on both the cut and kill floors began to chart a course towards finding out the facts about this incident, defending these workers, and winning their jobs back. They organized to publish and distribute an issue of Workers' Voice that explained to workers the truth about the attack by the company.

"The company washed their hands," said Olvera. "They accused workers in the plant of something that was the company's fault." "Management allowed the INS to enter the plant and arrest two workers. We cannot keep quiet about this. We must fight back for the defense of the workers."

Workers at the plant are planning meetings of union committees to discuss how to win their co-workers jobs back and the fight for a union contract.

"We have waited too long," said Angelina Castro, a boning worker at Dakota on maternity leave. "We need to move now to negotiations. We demand the company end its abuses, increase our salaries, lower the line speed, and value us as workers."

"This ruling is a tribute to the hard fought battle by so many Dakota Premium Workers," UFCW Local 789 president Bill Pearson told the Workers' Voice. He added that Rosen's Diversified will be contacted immediately to discuss dates for beginning negotiations for a contract.

Lawrence Mikesh and Bobbi Negrón are members of UFCW Local 789 at Dakota Premium Foods  
 
 
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