Vol. 73/No. 6      February 16, 2009

Many workers spoke of the need to build on their December 11 victory in winning a union to respond to the bosses’ attacks. The 2,041 to 1,879 vote came after a 16-year fight, dating back to the opening of the plant in 1992.

“You voted for the union, now you will lose your privileges,” workers were told by some bosses, according to Josefina Trinidad, 33, a third-shift cleaner on the cut floor. Her brother-in-law told her that supervisors had shortened breaks in his department and are demanding a higher quality product.

The bosses “were more lenient before. Now they’re using the big stick,” said another worker, who asked that his name not be used. He said he has faced harassment after making known that he voted for the union. According to this worker, there have been several hundred firings in the last month based on a company policy where workers are given points for missed work days. “Twelve points can get you fired,” he said, “but before the election, some people had 20 or 30 points, and they didn’t do anything.”

Accidents on the job, a key reason for much of the union’s support, continue to be rampant. Trinidad said a coworker recently lost several fingers when they got stuck in a machine. She herself was injured when a piece of metal fell on her hand. “But the company doctor sent me back to work the next day.”

The union victory is being closely watched by the nonunion workers at QSI, Smithfield’s in-house cleaning contractor. Workers at QSI recently saw their pay cut from $9.25 to $9 an hour, according to Trinidad. In November 2003 several hundred QSI workers carried out two successive walkouts to defend themselves against antiunion harassment by the company.

Lemuel Heslip, a worker in the conversion department who actively campaigned for UFCW representation, told the Militant that a lot of work remains to be done to strengthen the union. He pointed to a walkout by 1,000 Smithfield workers in 2006 which succeeded in reversing dozens of firings of coworkers accused of working with false papers. He saw that as an example of the kind of unity that would be necessary in the coming contract fight. “That was before I worked here. I didn’t really understand it until I started working in the plant,” Heslip said.

“I think the next step is to get the people together,” he said. “If we don’t show Smithfield we mean business, then they won’t take us seriously.”  
 
 
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