Vol. 72/No. 22      June 2, 2008

The new agreement runs through July 2011. The workers will receive a lump sum back pay from a 40-cents-per-hour pay raise dating back to July 2007, when the previous contract expired. There will be another raise of 40 cents per hour this year, with hourly raises of 35 cents per hour for each of the next three years. For many months Dakota management insisted raises could not be much more than its original offer of 15 cents per hour with a 10-cents-per-hour attendance bonus.

Among the advances made by the workers in the new contract was the right to have union representatives visit the plant three times a month, as opposed to once a month, the previous arrangement. The contract also included some improvements in how job openings are posted and awarded.

One of the central demands of the workers throughout the contract fight—a line speed at no more than 94 cows per hour, verified by the workers—was not addressed in the new contract. This will remain a focal point of struggle, according to union activists interviewed by the Militant.  
 
Company’s attempt to take credit
Thirty-five percent of the union members who voted opposed the contract. This registered sentiment among many that the contract fight had put workers in a strong position to win more from the company, including better safety on the job. Most of the workers—both those who voted “no,” and those who voted “yes”—see their accomplishments and consider themselves stronger today for having used their union power to wrest some wage concessions from the company.

Rebecca Williamson, one of several workers who became shop stewards during the contract fight, explained: “The company flyer put out the day of the vote urging workers to ratify the contract says the employer worked hard for 11 months to get us this contract.

“They did work hard, but it was not to give us anything. For the first six months Dakota worked hard to decertify the union. After that they insisted wages could not be raised much. They always refused to talk about the line speed and other safety issues. It’s the fight by the workers that got us where we are today and it’s this fight that continues.”

The recent struggle to organize a union and win a contract at Dakota Premium goes back to June 2000 when workers sat in the lunchroom and refused to work until the company slowed down the line. Workers today often refer to the sit-down strike of 2000, called the plantón in Spanish. For seven hours workers stood firm against company threats and pressures and won. A few weeks later the workers voted in the UFCW.

The union victory was followed by a two-year-and-a-half fight for a contract, which was won in 2002. During the life of this five-year contract there were constant skirmishes with the company over safety conditions, access to union representation, firings, and other harassment of the workers.

As a result of the sit-down strike in 2000, the workers wrested an agreement that the plant would butcher no more than 94 cows an hour, with a worker verifying the line speed. Workers were not strong enough to maintain that victory in the face of the company’s relentless pressure to produce more. Since 2000 the line speed has significantly increased, workers say, with hundreds more cows a day being killed in the same number of hours.

The demand to reestablish a limit on the line speed became very popular as workers tried to figure out how to deal with constant injuries and abuse.

The other central issue was a decent pay raise. Workers were determined to do better than their last contract, which included raises between 20 and 35 cents each year for the union members.

Throughout the 11-month battle for a contract in 2007 and 2008 the Dakota workers have written and distributed an in-plant newsletter called the Workers’ Voice. The newsletter is popular among workers, many of whom make suggestions as to what should go in it. Among other things it addresses unjust company firings, the brutal effects of the line speed, and pokes fun at the company’s claims that workers could get by on paltry wage raises. As evidence of the need for a decent wage raise the Workers’ Voice pointed out at the beginning of the last contract, in 2002, gas was $1.30 per gallon and now workers pay $3.65 per gallon.

In July 2007, before workers could begin fighting for a new contract, they had to first beat back a drive to destroy their union. An antiunion petition was circulated in the plant leading up to the June 30 contract expiration and company backers succeeded in forcing a union decertification election. The company was confident the union would be defeated. Their strategy included hiring many new workers who are Black, Native American, or white in order to divide them from the mostly Latino workforce.

This boss campaign to decertify the union was soundly defeated on January 25 by a vote of 152 to 82. Workers united against the company in defense of their union. They and UFCW Local 789 union representatives worked together to defend several Black workers who had been unjustly fired and discriminated against.

It was only after the company’s union-busting attempt failed that Dakota grudgingly began to negotiate. A dozen workers from different departments participated in the weekly negotiations, joined by union officers and staff members. This went on for several months until union officials organized a vote on the company’s May 7 offer. The 116 to 5 “no” vote on the deal sent a clear message to the company.

A few days later the company increased its wage offer. A second vote by the workers was then held. This was organized so that a “yes” vote approved the contract and a “no” vote rejected it and authorized a strike. The vote of 94 to 51 approved the contract.  
 
Workers know the fight is still on
The Workers’ Voice distributed in the plant after the contract vote explained that workers were celebrating their fight and accomplishments. At the same time it noted that dozens of workers have faced increased harassment in recent weeks. It further states:

“One of the most important issues remains unresolved—a line speed that injures us daily. The company’s drive for profits at our expense means that they will continue to try to up the line speed… . We will use our renewed strength to defend our safety on the job.”

The newsletter also calls for solidarity for the workers arrested in the May 12 immigration raid at Agriprocessors meat plant in Iowa. It ends by explaining that the current issue of the Workers’ Voice starts volume 5, reflecting the new stage in the ongoing fight at Dakota Premium Foods.

Hector Hernández, a young kill floor worker who helped put out the Workers’ Voice in earlier battles as well as in this most recent fight, said, “The majority of us learned that the bosses only look for their own benefit. They never, never see the work we do. They always look for more production. We learned that when all the workers unite we can win our objectives.”  
 
 
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