Vol. 72/No. 5      February 4, 2008

The plant-gate action was joined by some of the workers coming off their shifts. Together with fellow members and officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) Local 789, they handed out the latest issue of the Workers’ Voice, the pro-union newsletter put out by workers at Dakota Premium.

Argelia Flores Díaz, who works on the kill side of the plant, said that many workers “are really happy with what the union is doing now,” referring to the flyering at the plant gate and the visits by union representatives to the plant. “The union makes you strong, and the more people the better,” she said. “I would like to be outside like this but I am one of the last workers to get out.”

Despite the bitter cold, the big majority of workers stopped and rolled down their windows to get the Workers’ Voice. Some pulled over and talked to the union supporters. A few others demonstratively zipped through the crowd without taking a leaflet or looking at anyone.

Headlined “Vote Yes! Sí se puede! Yes we can!” the new Workers’ Voice responded to a company meeting held the day before.

The newsletter said that at the meeting, plant manager Steve Cortinas “disrespected all the workers at Dakota Premium when he cut off those of us in the boning [department] who tried to answer his anti-union distortions.” Noting that Cortinas said the company “couldn’t guarantee raises,” the newsletter answered, “Yes, that’s because the only way to guarantee raises is to have a union and win a contract that forces the company to regularly increase our pay.”

With the union, the pro-union bulletin said, workers can fight for the right “to have union representation whenever we are disciplined; regular weekly visits by union officials to help control the line speed; better health benefits,” and other rights.

It added, “Don’t be fooled or bullied by Dakota management. By voting YES for the union we will send a strong message that we won’t be disrespected and we will fight for better wages, better job conditions and dignity on the job.”

At the break after the company meeting, some workers spoke out to explain the necessity to fight for the union and for a better contract. Samuel Farley, a shop steward, spoke to the crowd in English and another worker translated his remarks into Spanish. The steward invited everyone to come to the union hall for a meeting after work the next day.

Two days later, a pro-company leaflet was distributed at the plant. It asserted that the union contract was “garbage” and that the company offers things that are not in the contract, like “meat sales at a lower price for the employees” and a loan program for workers who can’t make ends meet.

Pro-union workers put out the third Workers’ Voice in a little over a week to answer the company attacks. In the issue, they reproduced part of a UFCW statement reporting on the January 16 victory by meat-packers at Colorado Premium, in Greeley, Colorado, who won an election to be organized by UFCW Local 7. The workers there organized to seek “protection from dangerously fast line speeds and access to bathroom breaks,” the union noted.

Carlos Samaniego is a member of UFCW Local 789 and works at Dakota Premium Foods. Rebecca Williamson, a trimmer at Dakota Premium and member of Local 789, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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