The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 19      May 14, 2007

 
On the Picket Line
 
New Zealand: Casual workers
strike Heinz-Wattie food plant
HASTINGS, New Zealand—Casual (temporary) workers at Heinz-Wattie’s main food-processing plant here walked out for 24 hours March 29, in a strike for a collective contract. This followed a two-hour walkout the day before to attend a union meeting, where workers voted to take the strike action.

Supervisors threatened some with firing, a worker, Kohi Newson, told the Militant. “I told them we have the right to go to the meeting, we have the right to go on strike. If you show fear they’ll pick on you,” she said. Afterward “we walked in and went straight back to our jobs and ignored their threats.”

Each year, Heinz-Wattie’s employs hundreds of casual workers to process seasonal food crops for canning and freezing. In previous years these workers were employed directly by the company and worked under a contract that set pay rates and included extra allowances, such as for overtime.

This year, the company contracted Allied Workforce, a temporary agency, to employ workers. All those it employed were started at lower wage rates and no allowances. “They had a 30 percent cut in wages,” said Thomas O’Neill, an organizer for the Service and Food Workers Union. Workers then began having problems receiving their wages. At an April 16 union meeting, workers voted to reject Allied Workforce’s contract offer, so the season ended with no agreement for next year.

—Janet Roth

Starbucks cited for violating
workers’ right to organize a union
The New York office of the National Labor Relations Board ruled March 30 that Starbucks committed 30 labor law violations in activities aimed at preventing unionization at four of its outlets in New York City. The coffee chain fired workers who support organizing a union there, Daniel Gross, who lost his job last August, told the New York Times. The workers are demanding wages higher than their current $8.75 per hour and a guaranteed minimum of 25 to 30 hours of work each week.

—Brian Williams

Expanded picket line backs
metal workers on strike in Illinois
AURORA, Illinois—About 100 strikers and their supporters picketed the Fox Valley Forge company here April 12. The expanded picket marked almost six weeks on strike for some 50 workers, members of Boilermakers Local 1600.

The company has refused to seriously negotiate with the workers, who are fighting for their first contract since voting in the union in 2005.

According to strikers, management has offered piece-rate pay that would significantly lower the wages of many workers. In addition, the workers want better conditions on the job and to be treated with respect.

— Rollande Girard  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home