“We have mutual interests,” said UFCW member Greg Peters in a telephone interview. “Both companies are trying to hit us the same way. Across the country [the bosses] are taking a whack at the unions.” Peters, a 17-year veteran at the Tyson plant, was part of a contingent of 30 Tyson strikers who joined members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1377 on their picket line in Waukesha.

Also on July 1 a contingent of about 150 women from the Midwest School for Women Workers joined the Tyson picket line at the conclusion of a five-day seminar. “It was great,” said Sheila Reed, a Tyson striker who coordinates picket duty. “We had a nice turnout. There were women there from all across the country.” Reed said that among those who joined the picket line were members of the Teamsters, Communications Workers of America, and other unions.

The nearly 480 meat packers at Tyson went on strike February 28. For the first time in the plant’s history, they rejected the company’s contract offer. The food giant is demanding a two-tier wage scale, slashing hourly pay for new hires to $9 from $11.09 and freezing wages for others over a four-year period. The company also demands the elimination of pensions for new hires and of health-care supplements for retirees.

A little over a month later, on May 2, some 460 Machinists walked off the job at Waukesha Engine to defend their health benefits and seniority system. One IAM Local 1377 member has two brothers on strike at the Tyson plant in Jefferson, which is about a 30-minute drive from Waukesha.

Other outreach efforts by UFCW Local 538 include preparations by the union for more “Truth Squad missions,” according to a union strike update. The Truth Squads have been used by the strikers to win support from other UFCW locals. The strike update also thanked all those who participated in the June 22 solidarity rally organized by Local 538. Some 13 tons of food were donated for the strike pantry by other UFCW locals in New York, Canada, and Michigan. “These locals also raised over $9,000 for our strike fund,” the union notice stated.

“There are times when morale is low,” said Reed, who has gone on the road as part of the Truth Squads. “We hold the rallies to boost morale and to let people know what’s going on and to show solidarity.”

Reed and other workers noted that the company has stepped up harassment of the strikers through the use of cops, security guards, and scabs working in the plant.

About 15 strikers recently received citations for trespassing. On June 25 two UFCW international representatives were given tickets for disorderly conduct and each paid a $286 fine. The cops gave Sheila Reed three citations for “disorderly conduct,” using prohibited language because she said “shit,” and allegedly obstructing an intersection.

Her husband, Dave Reed, was arrested at his house and charged with disorderly conduct in an incident involving a scab. He was later charged with a felony—the scab claimed Reed threatened to kill him.

A judge issued an injunction barring Dave Reed from the picket line at the Tyson plant. In response to this, Reed said he has done more picketing at the Holiday Inn in nearby Watertown, Wisconsin, where the company conducts interviews for scabs. The Tyson strikers try to convince these workers to refuse to be used as strikebreakers.
 
 
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