“We want health benefits, we want to be more secure, we want a contract,” said Abraham Hernández, 41, a butcher for four years at the plant, in explaining why he joined the strike. He proudly described the May 4 victory when Garden Manor workers voted 17 to 4 in favor of joining United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 342.

Garden Manor is a beef processing plant that produces top rounds, ground beef, and hamburger patties and is part of the Hunts Point Cooperative, New York City’s largest meat market.

A one-week strike last July to protest company efforts to stall the certification election, after a majority of workers had signed cards to join the union, succeeded in getting an election scheduled in August 2003. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) subsequently invalidated that election because of numerous irregularities, including the company’s prevention of some eligible workers from casting a vote.

On May 28, the NLRB rejected the company’s objections to the May 4 election and certified UFCW Local 342 as the bargaining unit for “all full-time and regular part-time butchers, grinders, helpers and packers” at Garden Manor. Until the strike the company had refused to negotiate with the union for a contract.

Hernández and others explained that the top pay rate for butchers at Garden Manor is around $11 per hour, compared to union shops where butchers earn up to $16 an hour for similar work.

The pickets were successful in turning away meat delivery and UPS trucks, including trucks from Boar’s Head, a big customer for Garden Manor.

The workers said only three pallets of meat went out the first day of the strike, compared to 20 to 25 on a full production day. They also said the walkout hit the company especially hard because it was timed to start on the eve of the high-demand July 4 weekend. Slightly less than half of the 35 workers in the plant remained on the job during the strike.

A big topic of discussion on the picket line was the large number of “temporary” workers the bosses hire through an agency that pays them only the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. Most of these workers remained inside the plant as the picketing was established around a picnic table across the street from the loading dock. “It’s not that they don’t listen to what we tell them,” said Mario Preciado, one of the unionists. “The company tells them that our description of the working conditions—like the case of Alfonso, who has worked here 13 years and gets only one week of vacation—is just ‘union tactics.’” Preciado, 21, has worked at Garden Manor for two and a half years. He joined the effort to bring the UFCW into the plant a year ago.

Other workers on the picket line also noted that some of the “temps” have worked in the plant for a couple of years.

In addition to wages, working conditions, and health benefits, several workers explained that being treated with dignity is also an issue in the fight.

“No one is going back to work,” emphasized Preciado during the walkout. “We have gotten to know each other well in the year since the fight started. We are butchers. But we are human too.”

Workers from Mosner, Schuster, Fancy Food, Market Distributors, Rosen, and other plants at Hunts Point dropped by to join the picket line and express their support.

In addition to the picket line outside the plant, the union deployed a group of strikers to stand at the main gate of the market and pass out flyers in English and Spanish. “We are on an unfair labor practice strike,” the flyer said. “We voted to join the union of our choice, UFCW Local 342. We won the right to representation by Local 342 and we are asking for your support in our struggle.” The flyer asked the public and company customers to “not carry products from Garden Manor Farms or sell products to Garden Manor Farms until this employer agrees to respect our rights and agrees to follow the law.”

Being able to field strikers at the main gate enabled the workers to be more visible and reach out to more people with information on their struggle. Strikers reported a very friendly response from truckers and workers at other shops at Hunts Point. One worker at a nonunion shop, who asked that his name not be used, said he favored a union victory at Garden Manor. “That’s what we need too, a union,” he said. “At my shop if you say ‘union’ too often, you’re out the door.”

“Our fight will have an impact on these companies that are fighting against the union,” said Robert Roman, one of the unionists. “Word is going to get out to these companies that all their dirty tricks won’t stop workers from fighting for the union. My advice is: fight for what you believe in, don’t be afraid!”  
 
 
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