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OTTAWA--(CCNMatthews - Oct. 20, 2005) - Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress will be on the picket line with the workers of Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta, to show the solidarity of the 3 million Canadian working women and men who make the Canadian Labour Congress.
Who: Ken Georgetti, president, Canadian Labour Congress

What: Picketing with the workers on strike at Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta

When: 11:00 a.m. - Friday, October 21, 2005

Contacts: (in Ottawa) Jeff Atkinson, 613-526-7425 and 613-863-1413
(in Alberta) David Winter, cell 306-536-7703
(in Alberta) Michael Forman, cell 416-579-8330

The Canadian Labour Congress calls on premier Ralph Klein and the government of Alberta to intervene to uphold and protect the dignity of the workers of Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta and their right to a safe and healthy workplace.

"It is hard to believe, yet it is true, that in 2005, in Canada's apparently richest province, workers are forced to go on strike to obtain bathroom breaks or guarantee the implementation of basic health and safety procedures," says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Georgetti also calls on the premier and government of Alberta to introduce legislation that will provide for first-contract arbitration in cases where the employer insists on frustrating its workers' democratic and legal right to form a union and preventing bargaining to proceed to the conclusion of a first collective agreement. For the same reasons, Georgetti urges Alberta to adopt anti-scab legislation.

"The absence of anti-scab legislation makes it too easy for certain types of employers to try to evade their duty to bargain in good faith, regardless of the consequences for workers and community," explains Georgetti. "Such legislation has been in force for over a decade in British Columbia and almost thirty years in Quebec. In these two provinces, picket lines don't give rise to the divisions, the bitterness nor the violence we've seen at Lakeside."

"Moreover, because a large proportion of the workforce at Lakeside Packers is comprised of immigrants and new Canadians, the government of Alberta has an added duty to ensure that their constitutional equality right and their right to the protection of laws of Alberta are fully respected. Any allegation to the contrary that remains unanswered by the government of Alberta becomes a blight on all of Canada," adds Georgetti.

"I call on the working women and men at Lakeside Packers to remain strong and to hold their solidarity. Every day, all over the world, workers strive to make a living and struggle for their rights and improvements to their quality of life. Steadfast solidarity, on the picket line, in the community and beyond, delivers success in these struggles," concludes Georgetti.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 137 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca

/For further information: (in Alberta) David Winter, cell 306-536-7703
(in Alberta) Michael Forman, cell 416-579-8330/

IN: ECONOMY, FINANCE, LABOUR, POLITICS, SOCIAL

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[ 20 October 2005: Message edited by: leftcoastguy ]

Police said there is no indication the collision was the result of the strike-related conflict.

What they did say was, "We are able to advise that all six occupants of the two vehicles are associated to the same side of the labour dispute."

I don't think this article is on line yet but it will probably show up sometime this morning.

ptx: I am not a union member.I am a general contractor who has done work in Alberta and am well aware of how the business community regards labour.You do not know anything of running a business.To get the most out of employees and subcontractors,you need to treat them fairly and motivate them.

Any business plan that does not realise the potential return on investment from its human capital is shortsighted indeed.

I have seen the Lakeside example before.A revolving labour force who are intimidated into ignoring safety in the name of production and fired if they complain.

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Strikers stay away from picket line Friday after deadly crash

BROOKS, Alta. (CP) - Subdued strikers stayed off the picket line Friday at an Alberta slaughterhouse following a highway collision that killed two workers and injured four others.

But union officials representing workers at Lakeside Packers predicted the deaths would ultimately strengthen their resolve.

"I think it's going to take a while for everyone to recover from this because it's such a tragedy and such a loss," said Doug O'Halloran, local president of the United Food and Commercial Workers.

"If you've never been on a picket line, you don't know what the bond is. You don't know how people bond together and they just become family."

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While eating breakfast in a fast food place with four of the strikers wearing their UFCW401 bibs, an older woman approached to offer support and say that lots of folks in town feel the way she does.

[ 22 October 2005: Message edited by: John K ]

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Originally posted by outlandist:
[QB]Lynn: I appologise for misinterpreting your intent.

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Thanks, outlandish. That's very big of you and not something one normally sees on these boards; an apology that is.

In regard to Brooks and rednecks....

I think if one looks around their community, they could probably find a redneck here and there. Brooks is no different.

As John K said, there are many people in this part of Alberta, Medicine Hat included, that are sympathetic towards the striking workers.

On another note, the two men that died Thursday night, were Sudanese immigrants.

Lakeside strikers took the day off from the line yesterday out of respect for their deceased brothers, but Tyson took advantage.

I copied this from an article that appeared on today's from page of our newspaper:

"O'Halloran told the crowd the union decided "to take the pickets down," on Friday, because it was a day of mourning not striking. He said on Saturday, pickets would be back on the line wearing armbands and union smocks turned inside out for one week in respect for the two men and their families.

During the news conference, O'Halloran was critical of the Lakeside owners.

"It's full speed ahead for them. This is Tyson. There is too much money to be made today."

When asked by a reporter if he blamed Tyson for the deaths, he said, "I'm not prepared to answer that."

However, O'Halloran said that if Tyson Foods took a provincially arbitrated suggested contract at the start of October, then the two men who died probably would not have been on the road when the crash occurred."

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It is terrible what Tyson is doing. It is also terrible no anti scab legislation in Alberta as it would prevent picket line violence. Tyson is just trying to union bust,have employees working for marginal wages working in a crappy environment.

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As for the 3 scabs telling the people to go back to Africa, I would only reply with what I have posted in other forums regarding scabs. To scab is a conscious and moral decision. It's not a disease or something you're born with, it's a decision one makes to steal someone's job, or do it for less wages and standard working conditions then people who are out bravely fighting to protect what they and their brothers and sisters have. While those people they referred to are of a coloured descent, at least those people can wake up in the morning, look themselves in the mirror and hold their heads up high.

That's something the species commonly called scabs (scientific name: moralleous bankruptous or crawlious outfromunderapieceof cowshitus) can't lay claim too. Sure in a big city like Vancouver, Calgary etc, it maybe easy to do. But a small town like Brooks??? Like the Cheers song, "where everyone knows your name."

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
Don't get the wrong idea - I think the CBC's reporter wanted to get a redneck perspective, and went to a redneck bar. This was a few nights ago so I'm relying on memory. The CBC _did not_ make any inference I can recall that Brooks is a redneck community.

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Yes, sometimes the media loves to paint us all as rednecks. I think it helps to raise their ratings.

Regardless, Boom Boom, I posted a link to this article on the other thread which is now locked.

The Globe and Mail covered the issue of racism, immigration, and Lakeside in a 5 page article that appeared online a few years ago. It's a good piece and pretty much gives an unbiased perspective on what is going on in Brooks.

Here is the link to the article:

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Originally posted by keglerdave:
Not every Albertan is backwards in that regard, but the majority I find are. Until they themselves have to fight for something, they'll never understand what the people at Tyson, Telus, or any other company fighting to preserve their way of life or what they have is going through. Ignorance is bliss, and in some cases in Alberta and throughout Canada, generatioanlly passed down.

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How many Albertans do you know keglerdave?

If this analysis was done and it shows no long term effects from diversion, O'Halloran might begin to understand that the unionization of Lakeside is not justifiable.

Such a drama Queen, maybe O'Halloran wants to point the attention away from having two of his members killed running around at night playing "keep up the picket" line is much worse than the "unsafe conditions" in the plant which the union is trying to sell.

That picket line business has never made sense. The purpsose of a strike is to withhold your labor, show the employer that the real market rate for your wages is much higher because the employer can't replace you in sufficient numbers at the old wage rates. Smashing busses, cursing at delivery personnel and harassing 3rd party delivery people just sends a message to the company that the strikers on the picket line are idiots.

The comment above about legislation to prevent replacement workers: If Tyson couldn't operate, the buildings, land, contracts it has would be worthless. Union "employees" could demand $100 per hour as ransome for "taking" the entire premises. If stupid acts of violence can be encourage by a walkout of slightly more than half the employees (with the other half thankful for their jobs and who have continued to work), an extortion prize based upon the ability to "rob" any employer of the capital value of their premises would produce multi-site warfare.

Because they are a federally-registered plant, Lakeside Packers must commit to certain Quality Assurance programmes that are designed to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination.

A friend got a job on the chuck-roast de-boning line. During training the foreman demonstrated the technique, saying:
"This is how you debone a chuck roast, and THIS is how you debone a chuck roast when the Quality Assurance guy is watching...."
Not much commitment to the programme expressed in that statement.

The meat business has seen their profit margin drop from 7% about 20 years ago to the current margin of 3% or less. They shave protocols and cut corners whenever they think they won't get caught, in hopes of increasing the margin even a tiny bit.

No-one so far has wondered WHY so many of the workers at Lakeside Packers are from Somalia. The reason is because the largely German-Anglo population born and bred in the area refused to work for the paltry wages Tyson wants to pay. The Somali immigrants, desperate for employment, WILL work initially for those wages until they find, as have other ethnic groups before them, that one cannot support a family on such a salary. So, stuck in Canada with no comparable life to which to return in Somalia, they are forced to try to improve the hand that they have been dealt.

Unionization would at least give them a voice, which voice they can now only find at peril to their job, their family and their immigration status. Meat packers in Ontario used similar tactics against the Viet Namese population during the "boat people" period, paying them a dollar-an-hour less than the unionized workers they had just laid-off. Now that the Viet Namese have found better prospects, the latest salary victims are from Central America, I think.

For the time being, Tyson is either willing to pay the higher wages the scabs demand, or it is willing to put up with the lower quality of work the scabs produce, just in the hopes that the strikers will capitulate.

The right to union representation is, to my culture, equivalent to the right to free speech. The right to representation has been abused by union power-brokers and business interests alike, and unions have kind of a stench in Alberta as a consequence.

Lakeside Packers has had to compete with Cargill's plant in Fort Macleod, with Cargill admitting in print that they can afford to lose a million dollars a year for seven years in order to undercut the competition into bankruoptcy. Lakeside Packers has the right to do business, and I daresay their profit margin lately is LESS than 3%, but they themselves have shown themselves, in past behaviour, unlikely to honour a covenant with the public or with their own staff.

BROOKS -- Four more people have been charged by RCMP with committing acts of vandalism and making threats during a bitter strike at one of the country's largest meat processing plants.

Brooks residents Abrahim Gak Monyabue, 30, Acheik Deng Majok, 23, and James Macher Aleu, 30, were all charged with uttering threats, while Alesio Deng Malou,34, of Brooks faces a charge of possession of aidangerous weapon.

Monyabue was also charged with mischief.

Police announced the charges in a media release Saturday, but did not specify when during the strike at Lakeside Packers the alleged acts occurred.

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Does anyone know if they will be able to work (wash & wax RCMP radio cars) if/when convicted?

[ 24 October 2005: Message edited by: ptx ]

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Originally posted by Kindly Wise:
Lakeside Packers has had to compete with Cargill's plant in Fort Macleod, with Cargill admitting in print that they can afford to lose a million dollars a year for seven years in order to undercut the competition into bankruoptcy.

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Did you mean to type that Lakeside Packers can afford to undercut the competition? Because if Cargill, with unionized workers and a package that the Lakeside workers were willing to accept, can still afford to undercut Lakeside, then the latter is doing poorly indeed.

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Originally posted by Kindly Wise:
My point? It doesn't matter if the population of Brooks is redneck or black. The issue is pure economics with very little racial, ethnic or ethical context.

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I have to disagree with this. Whether the union is successful or not, the racial/ethnic issues will become hardened and more difficult to resolve. That speaks to future trouble in a small place like Brooks.

I think there would be an interesting role for an investigative journalist in all of this. How is Lakeside moving so many refugees from only one particular hot spot into Canada. Unfortunately, investigate journalists are an endangered species in Alberta.

[ 24 October 2005: Message edited by: siren ]

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Originally posted by ptx:
Such a drama Queen, maybe O'Halloran wants to point the attention away from having two of his members killed running around at night playing "keep up the picket" line is much worse than the "unsafe conditions" in the plant which the union is trying to sell.

That picket line business has never made sense. The purpsose of a strike is to withhold your labor, show the employer that the real market rate for your wages is much higher because the employer can't replace you in sufficient numbers at the old wage rates.

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Since you've never claimed to be inside, or have any real knowledge, of Lakeside's operations, I wonder how you get off making outlandish claims. Let's chat for a moment about the conditions inside Lakeside. Workers have been denied the ability to go to the washroom when they need to crap or piss. Gee, this is 2005, and we have grown men and woment who shit in their pants, becasue they would be fired if they walked to the bathroom like any human being should be allowed to. These workers are processing our meat, and these are the conditions they work in. Tell me ptx - do you think things are hunkydory when an employer can treat workers like this? Are you still wondering why maybe some people are a tad upset at Tyson? Does this in any way affect you as a human being?

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Originally posted by ptx:
If these economics of putting a cow on a truck and sending it to Pasco for processing are not too severe (say $10 per head --including transport, import duty, any tax savings such as employment taxes, etc) it may make sense for Lakeside to allow itself to operate at reduced capacity with the remainder of the capacity shipped to the Tyson affiliated plant in Washington state.

If this analysis was done and it shows no long term effects from diversion, O'Halloran might begin to understand that the unionization of Lakeside is not justifiable.

Such a drama Queen, maybe O'Halloran wants to point the attention away from having two of his members killed running around at night playing "keep up the picket" line is much worse than the "unsafe conditions" in the plant which the union is trying to sell.

That picket line business has never made sense. The purpsose of a strike is to withhold your labor, show the employer that the real market rate for your wages is much higher because the employer can't replace you in sufficient numbers at the old wage rates. Smashing busses, cursing at delivery personnel and harassing 3rd party delivery people just sends a message to the company that the strikers on the picket line are idiots.

The comment above about legislation to prevent replacement workers: If Tyson couldn't operate, the buildings, land, contracts it has would be worthless. Union "employees" could demand $100 per hour as ransome for "taking" the entire premises. If stupid acts of violence can be encourage by a walkout of slightly more than half the employees (with the other half thankful for their jobs and who have continued to work), an extortion prize based upon the ability to "rob" any employer of the capital value of their premises would produce multi-site warfare.

Think about the vote of the workers who have continued to work there for the past 5 years and who are working in the plant now. They vote by continuing to quietly do their work which they have done in the past -- un-interrupted. The fact that they can continue with their daily work, quietly, and humbly, despite the unwanted press attention, the physical and psychological harm done by the LAWLESS (violating the 50 limit & physically fighting an RCMP officer), OBNOXIOUS (shouting vulgar epithets at workers),picketers makes the current workers quiet heroes.

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ban this person.

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BROOKS, Alberta -- Alberta Infrastructure Minister Lyle Oberg has reportedly contacted both sides in the Lakeside Packers strike to see if the province can help broker a deal.

United Food and Commercial Workers union spokesman Tom Hesse says his union would love to bargain.

Hesse says the government has been reluctant to intervene but adds it would be appropriate for the province to step in to help settle the strike.

The union expects large number of pickets outside the plant today, as the strike nears the end of its second week.

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In July, labour relations experts predicted that a strike at the plant would be lengthy, similar to the last job action at the facility in the 1980s, which killed the union.

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Originally posted by leftcoastguy:
Oberg says first-contract legislation should be looked at

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Good.

Oberg is one who wants to replace Klein when he retires. If he manages to get Tyson to sign that first contract, he'll be a popular guy around these parts...well, at least as it concerns most of us anyway.

Not only that, Alberta needs more immigrants as our current work force isn't large enough. If they want to attract more people, they'd best be dealing with what is going out there asap!

The issue which the bleeding hearts have refused to consider is what its like to don, doff protective clothing. This isn't like an office manager telling you not to go from your desk to the rest room. On the line, productivity depends on (1) being there while the line is running, and (2) any activity which involves undressing doesn't take a minute, it takes a lot more.

As a result, if you will be on the line for 4 hours, they should be full hours and you need to think about liquids intake, and other regularity functions. Why? By law the activities of donning & doffing safety equipment is paid for by the employer. If it were otherwise, the employer would be happy for an employee to clock out any time.

See Metzler v. IBP for an in-depth look at the timing issues

The employees by survey indicated that to do a good job with the equipment took almost 25 minutes. IBP said 5. The government settled on 15. This includes pre and post liminary activities. Thus a 1-minute trip to the urinal costs another 25 or 15 minutes. Four or so trips to the urinal is a lost hour to an hour and a half.

You can't stop the line every time someone is interrupted. This is why they have timed stoppages, as breaks, to allow everyone the time necessary to get things done.

The line is a tough taskmaster. You have to adjust to it, rather than the other way around.

The "employer pays " rule is not bad, but it puts the onus on the employer to plan breaks for line efficiency.

If this were the case, and if replacement workers would not be available, we would have "hostile takeover by strike". If the employees at any company could hostage the company at will, profit would be zero, and the workers would demand an amount of money equal to the residual value of the plant, thus legally stealing it from its owners.

Replacment workers enable an equilibrium factor as we see at lakeside. Here only about half of the workers want to strike and the other half want to work. Because this type of production can be broken down to smaller units, the plant can probably function at 1/10 strength. Thus the 50% strike will not do much.

A 100% strike would be effective as it would be difficult to get enough replacement workers to operate enough production to cover the overhead.

No decent, thoughtful country would allow a strike to result in a taking of property. Without the ability for the owner to keep operating, it would result in a taking.

There is an acid-base type ratio where both sides are free and we see it in Lakeside. If 100% of the employees (or even 90%) were so unhappy that they struck, Lakeside would HAVE to shut down or take a long term shot to the wallet with the contribution from one line working not being enough to justify plant overhead (accountants, personnel, management in general).

This is why the ability for replacement workers will never guarantee the employer an out where the greater majority of workers are unhappy enough to strike. Unless a place has zero overhead, a loss of 90% of its labor is fatal.

This gives the workers who have remained in place and continued working at Lakeside a tremendous amount of power. If they strike, the plant will shut completely down. And they are not striking. Because of the continuing workers, the strike will not win. The working workers control.

Mark my words. Until the bulk of the employees are in on the strike, O'Halloran will lose, and the employees who continue working will ultimately decide.

How does anyone respond to this? So, you 'need to regulate your own bodily functions? Wow! This is oppression beyond belief. What kind of extremism is this?

Why not have a rotation on the line so that people can replace you when you need to go to the washroom! Simple solution!

The way you talk the workers owe their bowel movements to the company too!

Where's this guy from? Can't believe this is even happening in Canada, in 2005, let alone this insulting abuse of the worker's to the point that the clock controls the person's bodily functions!

Nothing needs to be said about this!

What about surgery? If an operation lasts 4 hours I expect the doc not to have had a quart of coffee or take off from the operation at all!

Ever heard of a "motorman's friend"? Union or not there are some jobs which require some accommodation (I just mentioned 3, there are others).

And just to toss in one degree of 6 for fun, I know of only 4-5 (not including people known in law school) people with an LL.M.

Personal stuff notwithstanding, most of my critics have come at it from a "gosh darn this is the modern age" angle or "oh my bleeding heart". The case cited indicates that when you are "on the line" it takes a good bit to get protectively suited up. Maybe they do have a reliever but they may not have had one the day that that particular employee had to go. No, you don't stop the line.

You're so far out of our league, you should go to a site more befitting a 'scab-loving pompous ass'. Now that quote was clearly borrowed from Thwap. Reinforcement of an intelligent thought!

Intent: Please don't lower your majesty self and waste any more time speaking to this lowly crowd! Go out and find a place where you 'the god of all knowledge' would fit in!

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NDP: Oberg must put a stop to Tyson's illegal access roads
Public safety at risk unless government acts immediately - Eggen

Brooks - New Democrat MLA David Eggen called on Transportation Minister Lyle Oberg to order Tyson Foods Inc. to immediately de-construct the multiple new access “roads” that have sprung up overnight on the airport road on the north boundary of the strike-bound Lakeside plant. Eggen is spending this morning on the picket-line and has taken a first-hand look at the “roads” in question.

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The best thing for everyone would be to just ignore him. PLEASE, just ignore all of ptx's posts and pretend he doesn't exist.

[ 25 October 2005: Message edited by: cogito ergo sum ]

I'm not sure where to begin with everything here but firstly, this union supposedly fighting for the rights of the poor oppressed worker doesn't appear to have much support.

It never had much of it to being with as it was only certified with a 51% vote. The certification vote came shortly after an incident involving an outside contractor where some of their employees were fired and somewhat of a revolt of mostly Sudanese Lakeside workers.

UFCW actively solicted support from the Sudanese workers, fomented an atmosphere of racism and exploitation, then suddenly Lakeside Packers was unionized. I should also add UFCW has been trying get back into Lakeside for many years and this was their 'in'. For those who believe this strike and union movement doesn't have a racial bent, you are sadly mistaken.

Regarding such things as 'potty breaks' until the incident involving Mr. Iwanegba, it never occurred to me that they were not guaranteed. We usually locate someone to cover us then go. I'd be intersted in hearing both sides of that particular incident. Breaks are normally scheduled 2.5 to 3 hours apart so there is ample opportunity to use the washroom.

As for the breakdown in talks to get a contract, thank UFCW for that. They had every intention of having a strike for summer that is until the AB govt. stepped in and imposed a DIB hearing. Its finding were not binding though were presented in the form of a collective agreement.

Local 401 went ahead with a vote on this proposal without first consulting management. UFCW was also not thrilled with it but recommended members accept it. This vote was particpated in by only 30% of eligible people. As everyone knows, Lakeside rejected the DIB C.A. but proposed a modified contract which was instantly rejected by the union and off they went on strike with mere days remaining on a stale and questionable strike mandate. A vote on the company's proposed C.A. is currently delayed by UFCW opposition.

I wonder how many of the workers who are reluctant to strike are immigrants? I don't need six degrees to know that immigrants in this country are still expected to do the dirtiest work and are also expected to be grateful for it. I am baising what I say on personal experience. Immigrants in Grande Prairie cerainly expereince this currently. They know that many Canadian born citizens are uncomfortable with the quantity of immigrants and the increasing numbers of immigrants who are visible minorities. Immigrants don't want to rock the boat. What is more they don't want to lose their jobs because it is much more difficult for them to find another one, especially one with adequate wages. But we need to advocate for immigarnts to have safe working conditions. For the labour code to be enforced. For injury rates to be reduced, chain speed to be reduced etc. Did you know that 30 years ago americans were on waiting lists for meat packing plant jobs? They were so well paid there were waiting lists. Not any more, now that minorities, women etc. are being used to provide labour . . . . Judging by an APril 2005 articel tyson has no qualms about initmidating immigrants into decertifying the union that was in place for 20 years at its' washington plant. this is from factoryfarms.com/issues_union.htm

Meat Packer's Union on the Chopping Block

CorpWatch
April 18th, 2005

The Tyson Fresh Meats beef slaughter and processing facility in Pasco, Washington is an industrial tower of Babel. Fifteen hundred workers from Mexico, Bosnia, Vietnam, and other far-flung countries, labor elbow-to-elbow along the plant’s disassembly lines, cutting off heads, legs, and hooves, and skinning the enormous cattle carcasses. The bodies are then carried along by a chain to more workers, who use metal hooks and knives to slice the animals into ever smaller pieces, ultimately destined for a supermarket near you.

In 2003, the left arm of 24-year-old Luis Madrigal was a casualty of the line. “[He] cut off his arm with a hock-cutter,” says Pasco Tyson meat processor and union leader Maria Martinez, referring to a machine with twin curved steel blades designed to chop through the joint of a cow’s knee. “The company had taken off the arm guards from the hock-cutter and the machine wasn’t working right because of production, adds Martinez. "All they care about is production, not the safety of the workers.”

Meatpacking, by its very nature, is extremely dangerous. “Hogs, steer and cows are very heavy animals and [cutting is] done in large part by hand, which puts strains on workers' arms, shoulders and backs,” says Cornell University labor expert Lance Compa. “You put just these sheer physical demands on top of the conditions: the blood, the grease, the heat, and the stench, and then the danger that results from the workers coming in contact with the animal’s half-digested food.”

And yet in one of the most hazardous industries in the United States, the record of Tyson Fresh Meat’s Pasco plant stands out. According to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the rate of injury and illness at the facility is more than two and a half times the national average for meatpacking plants and more than twice that of meatpacking facilities with a thousand or more workers.

The Pasco plant also stands out in a second way: the killing and cutting floors of the plant, as well as its disassembly and cafeteria lines, have been the battleground of a tumultuous effort to jettison the union, Teamsters Local 556, that has represented meatpacking workers there for more than 25 years. In February, workers at the plant voted to decertify the union under a cloud of allegations of dirty tricks, labor law violations, and union busting.

Many argue that these two elements -- the lack of safety and the robust efforts to dissolve the union -- are part and parcel of the same problem. In the months to come, other unions representing meatpacking workers will be looking to the struggle at Tyson’s Pasco plant as a bellwether for labor rights in one of America’s most treacherous occupations.

When Teamsters Local 556 Secretary-Treasurer Maria Martinez started work at the Pasco plant, it was under the ownership of Iowa Beef Processors (IBP) and had been a union shop for more than 20 years. Tyson Foods, Inc. bought IBP in 2001, making the company the largest beef producer in the world. Martinez says that when Tyson came in, the company cut the workforce, leading to higher rates of injury. “There’s very much a difference between IBP and Tyson. You can see with Tyson, trying to get rid of the union was the most important thing for them.”

Tyson Foods, Inc., the parent company of Tyson Fresh Meats, is a giant amongst giants. Tyson dominates the meatpacking industry as the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork. The Springdale, Arkansas-based company is twice as large as its next competitor, with 114,000 workers and sales last year of $26.4 billion. Founded in 1935, Tyson Foods produces one out of every four pounds of beef, chicken, and pork in the U.S, and sells meat under the brands Thomas E. Wilson, Doskocil, Jac Pac, Reuben, ITC, Wright Brand, Russer, Jordan’s, Continental Deli, and Iowa Ham. The family-owned company is run by Chairman and CEO John Tyson, a devout Christian, whose grandfather started the company. Under the stewardship of the younger generation, Tyson Foods “Core Values” include striving to be “faith-friendly company” and “to honor God.” In its drive towards a union-free shop, the company implies that these imposed religious beliefs will keep their workers safe.

In a recent Tyson Press Release, for example, Pasco manager Ray McGaugh used somewhat biblical language to make the link, saying, “Tyson’s core values and code of conduct will continue to guide the company and its relationship with Team Members as we operate without a union.”

Union decertification redux

Many employees at the Pasco plant say that Tyson has sped up the pace that meat cutters must work, while reducing the number of people on the line. Ninety percent of workers interviewed for a University of Massachusetts and Whitman College report on worker health and safety at the Pasco plant said they believed that the speed of the chain that moves meat along the disassembly line is too rapid, while over 70 percent stated that Tyson assigned too few workers to each task.

“What I’ve seen, because I’ve always worked in the processing department,” says Martinez, “is people get injured because they don’t have the time to keep their knife sharp or do their piece of meat because the meat comes one after another after another. It always comes back to the speed of the chain.”

The union’s presence at the plant was challenged last year, after a disgruntled worker, Carlos Perez, who had lost to Martinez in an election for leadership of the Teamsters local union, gathered signatures to force an election to decertify the union. (Martinez is a member of the reform group Teamsters for a Democratic Union, while Perez was backed by the Teamsters establishment.) Perez was subsequently promoted to supervisor by Tyson.

When workers at the plant voted last April on whether to continue having union representation at the Pasco facility, the pro-union side won out. Tyson management then claimed that union stewards improperly spoke to workers as they were waiting to vote. In December the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) insisted that a new vote be taken, despite the NLRB Hearing Officer’s findings that “certain electioneering did occur but…was not sufficient under third-party standards to overturn the election.”

This February the election was held again. This time the workers at the plant voted 690 to 586 to decertify the union. The plant manager McGaugh claimed this as a "vote of confidence in the company and our plant’s management staff.”

The union sees things differently and has filed an objection with the NLRB, claiming that Tyson “sabotaged the rights of employees and interfered with the election” in 22 violations of labor law. The objections include intimidating and coercing employees, offering or providing benefits to employees to induce them to vote against the union, passing out fraudulent campaign literature falsely attributed to the union, and providing workers with false information about voting times and locations.

“Tyson closed the plant for 6 or 7 weeks and paid people for 32 hours [a week]”, says attorney David Rosenfeld, who is representing Local 556. “We’ve no objections to the workers being paid. But it’s not typical. It’s like a bribe so the workers would forget about everything else the company’s done. And this was just before the elections.” Tyson temporarily suspended production from January to February in several of its plants, owing to low demand for beef, the company claimed. The union also alleges that Tyson told workers that the length of the layoff was dependent on how they voted in the decertification election.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson disputes such charges, stating that the company acted within its rights. “While the decertification election was the result of a petition initiated by hourly workers, the law allows the company to take a position and communicate with our Team Members about the significance of their vote. We wanted to ensure they made an informed choice.”

According to union lawyer Rosenfeld, among the most egregious acts the company committed was enlisting the help of a local Pasco Spanish-language publication, called La Voz, to publish false statements that the Pasco plant would close and relocate if workers voted for the union. “The company supports [La Voz] with a lot of advertising,” says Rosenfeld. After the paper printed a piece about continued unionization leading to closure of the facility, “the company passed the article in and around the plant.”

Leaders of Teamsters Local 556 have filed a libel lawsuit against La Voz, alleging, among other charges, that the paper claimed that union leaders closed the Japanese market to Tyson products following a labor solidarity-building trip to Japan. In actuality, Japan, along with more than 20 other countries, closed its market to US beef after a case of BSE, or mad cow disease, was discovered in Washington state in 2003.

“We're disappointed but not surprised by the union's false charges,” says Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson in a recent statement of the union’s objections to the NLRB. “As an employer, all of our actions leading up to such a vote are regulated by federal law. We did not do or say anything inappropriate or unlawful.” Mickelson believes the labor board will dismiss the Teamster’s appeal, adding that Tyson “look[s] forward to working with our Team Members in a union-free environment.”

Fortune shining down

Having pioneered products like McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, Tyson Foods is currently riding the Atkins wave of high-protein, low carbohydrate diets in the US. (See Sidebar). In its $75 million Powered by Tyson™ television, radio, web, and print advertising campaign, Tyson has rebranded itself “the world’s leading protein provider.”

Fortune Magazine recently named Tyson America’s “Most Admired” food company, based on the ratings of 10,000 executives, directors and securities analysts, for the second time in three years. Fortune’s high estimation of the company’s leadership seems to be shared by Tyson’s board, which last year gave Chairman and CEO John Tyson a $5.4 million dollar bonus – one of the largest in a year of bloated payouts to executives.

In 2004, the company was investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for awarding, without proper disclosure, Tyson director and former CEO -- John Tyson's father -- Don Tyson $1.7 million in bonuses from 1997 to 2003. Tyson Foods has agreed to pay $1.5 million in a settlement with the SEC. Yet in the middle of negotiations with the SEC, company directors granted Don Tyson a $1.2 million a year contract for consulting, along with a yearly pension of $750,000 and other perks. Last month, union-owned Amalgamated Bank, which owns nearly 89,000 shares in Tyson, filed a lawsuit against the company alleging that Tyson Foods has guaranteed Tyson family members such as Don Tyson substantial consulting fees once they retire from the firm -- and even after death.

In order to cover these fees, Tyson has adopted policies that squeeze workers and unions. A recent report by Human Rights Watch authored by Lance Compa indicates that the working and organizing conditions at Tyson’s Pasco plant are not atypical of the corporation’s track record as a whole. The study argues that Tyson, along with meatpacking and processing giants Smithfield and Nebraska Beef, systematically violate the labor rights of its workers: insufficiently protecting workers from injury, taking advantage of undocumented laborers, not paying workers’ compensation, illegally impeding their right to organize a trade union, or ousting unions that exist.

“Tyson always gets rid of workers who protest or who speak up for others,” says a poultry worker quoted in the report who works at the Tyson plant in Rogers, Arkansas. “When they jumped from thirty-two chickens a minute to forty-two, a lot of people protested. The company came right out and asked who the leaders were. Then they fired them. They told us ‘If you don’t like it, there’s the door. There’s another eight hundred applicants waiting to take your job.’”

Tyson, who refused direct comment to CorpWatch, did release a statement following the report's release. "We're disappointed with the report's misleading conclusions, but not surprised given the author's ties to organized labor," the company said, pointing to the Tyson’s Team Member Bill of Rights, which was issued one day before the HRW report was published.

The Bill of Right affirms workers’ “right to choose whether they want to join together for collective bargaining purposes.” It also states that workers have the right to “tell Tyson first…if any [employee] feels that they are being treated unfairly with respect to any employment matter,” presumably in place of turning to a union.

The National Labor Relations Board found Tyson guilty of illegally expelling a union from its poultry plant in 1993 in Dardanelle, Arkansas and from its Holly Farms subsidiary in 1995. In 2003, Tyson hired permanent strike breakers during a labor dispute at its meat processing plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin, drawing the ire of the community there.

In 2001, following a three-year undercover investigation, federal prosecutors accused Tyson of conspiring to smuggle undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America to work in its poultry plants in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri and Virginia, over a period of 7 years, in order to raise profits. Despite the testimony of managers that orders came from on high, a Tennessee jury controversially concluded in 2003 that the operation was run locally without the approval of the company executives.

In its efforts to up safety measures within their factories, Tyson gives a number of its workers Excellence in Safety awards and has adopted something called the Chairman’s Safety Circle. This year, the company also offered their first Chairman’s Award for Best Overall Safety. Tyson prides itself on taking safety precautions seriously, but its record raises doubts. On 2003, Jason Kelly, a worker at Tyson Foods River Valley Animal Feed Ingredients rendering plant in Texarkana, Arkansas, died from inhalation of hydrogen sulfide when he was repairing a machine that converts chicken feathers into pet food. Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous gas created by decaying organic matter. Tyson was issued citations for five willful violations, 12 serious violations, and two other violations of OSHA rules, but OSHA proceedings were suspended pending a federal grand jury investigation of Kelly’s death.

OSHA statistics obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that last year 31 Tyson facilities around the country were classified as workplaces with the highest injury and illness rates in the US. These included Tyson Foods facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Back to the Jungle?
At Tyson Fresh Meats in Pasco, the workers await the ruling of the National Labor Relations Board. If the NLRB concludes that Teamsters Local 556’s objections in the Pasco decertification election are valid, the plant’s workers will be given a third chance to vote on whether or not to keep their union. If the NLRB upholds the current election results, the Tyson plant will go the way of the rest of the meatpacking industry over the last four decades, which was once a union-dominated enterprise with some of the highest wages for manufacturing work.

David Rosenfeld, lawyer for Local 556, believes that the union has a strong case for overturning the decertification election, but adds that it will be an uphill battle with the NLRB. “I have no optimism that the [NLRB] will be fair. But the union’s objections are good.”

United Food and Commercial Workers union’s Jill Cashen shares Rosenfeld’s skepticism. “Labor law in this country is woefully inadequate to properly protect workers’ rights to organize and to have an organized voice on the job,” she says.

Sasha Lilley is a staff writer for CorpWatch and producer of Against the Grain on Pacifica Radio's KPFA.

Workers spent hours Monday waiting to cross the picket line at Lakeside Packers only to be sent home early because federal meat inspectors did not enter the plant.

quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:
Not repsonding to anyone in particular here but I see union brotherhood herd mentality still thrives.

I'm not sure where to begin with everything here but firstly, this union supposedly fighting for the rights of the poor oppressed worker doesn't appear to have much support.

UFCW actively solicted support from the Sudanese workers, fomented an atmosphere of racism and exploitation, then suddenly Lakeside Packers was unionized. I should also add UFCW has been trying get back into Lakeside for many years and this was their 'in'. For those who believe this strike and union movement doesn't have a racial bent, you are sadly mistaken.

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Please make up your mind. Was it a case of "suddenly" Lakeside being unionized, or was it the case that it took "many years" of organizing for a successful vote?

quote:

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Regarding such things as 'potty breaks' until the incident involving Mr. Iwanegba, it never occurred to me that they were not guaranteed. We usually locate someone to cover us then go. I'd be intersted in hearing both sides of that particular incident. Breaks are normally scheduled 2.5 to 3 hours apart so there is ample opportunity to use the washroom.

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I would suggest you go to a website such as terribletyson or UFCW's site, and it would fill you in on some info.

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As for the breakdown in talks to get a contract, thank UFCW for that. They had every intention of having a strike for summer that is until the AB govt. stepped in and imposed a DIB hearing. Its finding were not binding though were presented in the form of a collective agreement.

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And how, exactly, is UFCW to blame for this?

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Local 401 went ahead with a vote on this proposal without first consulting management. UFCW was also not thrilled with it but recommended members accept it. This vote was particpated in by only 30% of eligible people. As everyone knows, Lakeside rejected the DIB C.A. but proposed a modified contract which was instantly rejected by the union and off they went on strike with mere days remaining on a stale and questionable strike mandate. A vote on the company's proposed C.A. is currently delayed by UFCW opposition.

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"Without consulting management"??? Jesus Christ - do you actually read what you put down? Since when is it a union's job to consult management about an internal union decision? A union's mandate is to its members - not to the employer.

quote:

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In the meantime those 'scabs' who simply don't agree with this union, all 1100+ and growing, will continue to go to work as before, to prevent the plant from closing until for the first time we have a proper vote.

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UFCW has had "proper votes" to be certified, and to put forth the DIB's recommendations as the basis for a collective agreement. What more is needed to meet your standard for a "proper vote"?

Edited because I don't know how to go in and out of quotes.

[ 25 October 2005: Message edited by: Nam ]

I fixed it for you. -RD

[ 25 October 2005: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

quote:

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Please make up your mind. Was it a case of "suddenly" Lakeside being unionized, or was it the case that it took "many years" of organizing for a successful vote?

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Well, I am glad you brought that up, because you see, UFCW has been trying to get back in to Lakeside Packers for over 20 years after a four year long disaster of a strike which killed the union. This occurred when a quantumn shift was taking place in the packing industry with the contrustuction of the then relatively massive Cargill plant. At that time Lakeside was puny but unlike Burns and all the others that folded, Lakeside fluorished because they kept costs in line and expanded heavily. Needless to say they didn't cave in to the union then and chances are if they did the comany would've folded long ago before Tyson bought out IBP. Given that it took so many years of UFCW trying to get back in should tell you how little support they have at Lakeside. Besides, we have wages and benefits which are at or near the top of the industry, WITHOUT a union.

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I would suggest you go to a website such as terribletyson or UFCW's site, and it would fill you in on some info.

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LOL, that has got to be one of the most idiotic websites on the planet. It's really beside the point because nearly every single complaint they make against Tyson and Lakeside can be made about Cargill, XL Meats, and even UFCW itself so I'm not so sure why they are taking a moral highground. Terribletyson.com is just as incriminating of UFCW rep.ed shops in many ways so I really don't know what they hope to accomplish with that website. I'd suggest sticking to impartial, more intellectual sources and UFCW is far from the most credible or intelligent source around. Besides all that, we can go to the bathroom whenever we feel like it so I am not sure what happened with that incident. As they say, two each story is at least two sides.

quote:

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And how, exactly, is UFCW to blame for this?

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UFCW was certified at Lakeside in the fall of 2004 by 51% (bare miniumum). From the very onset of negotiations, they took a very dictatorial stance and even at one point prior to summer refused a contract very similar to Cargill's (and superior to the DIB proposal).

Along came summer, the beef industries' busiest most lucrative season then lo and behold, talks break down and UFCW has a strike vote with the permission of the mediatior but not without a pre-vote rally full of histrionics and racial overtones.

The gold encrusted contract showed to us was NOT a product of negotatiations but seemed to be the bait to get people intersted in more money if not the unions' pontifficating to vote in favour of a strike.

It worked. 70% voted in favour of strike action (55% actual). On the day the strike was to occur, the AB govt. steps in and appoints the DIB to mediate a settlement, although not binding. UFCW immediately protested which is rather odd when you think of how many times they asked for binding arbitration but couldn't swallow the next best thing without breaking the labour code.

When the DIB hearings were complete, the mediator presented his proposal in the form of a collective agreement, though still not binding. UFCW went ahead with a vote on a non binding proposal WIHTOUT CONSULTING THE OTHER PARTY REQUIRED FOR IT TO BECOME BILATERALLY ACCEPTED. UFCW is not in charge of Lakeside's business no matter how hard they try and thank God for that because the place would be long gone by now instead of being the largest plant in the country.

To run off with a proposal and to have a vote on it is all well and good but expecting the other party to agree to it because a vote occurred is too much,especially when less than 1/3 showed support for it. Besides that the vote itself was meaningless by any defintition. The point of the proposal was to be a frawework for negotatiations, not final votes. The bargaining committee met with management days later, management announced it had a number of problems with the DIB proposal. One being labour costs but the second and most important thing was the length of the contract. It was to expire within days of Cargill and XL Meats' respective C.A's expiry. I am sure you san see the probelms of having over 80% of the nations' ability to process cattle potentially behind picket lines with the same union at teh same time. With just Lakeside hobbling along as it is now is causing the cattle industry distress. If in the event of a three way strike, the industry would likely collapse totally and ranchers would likely have to cull cattle in the event of a long strike because exporting that much cattle south is nearly impossible, with the politics and economics of it all. Tyson itslef could currently absorb Lakeside's entire capacity into its underutilized plants in the US (which doesn't bode well for strikers) but a shift in the market may mean that may no longer be true and there's still the matter of the amount of cattle processed by the others.

Anyhoo back to the DIB contract. Tyson said we can't have this and it's fully within their legal right to do so. They weren't being arbitrary at all. They presented their proposal to the union and it was immediately rejected. Don't be fooled that it was about money. Working conditions weren't it either. The company's proposal offered higher wages and was based on the DIB propoosal with one stark difference. The comany wants an open shop and a longer contract to avoid a simultaneous three way strike of the big three. This would seem to take the teeth out of the UFCW's extortion racket.

So, with no desire to negotiate further, like they were serious about it to begin with, off they went on strike with 2 days remaining on a old irrelevent and questionable strike mandate while we are left unable to vote in any official sense on any alternative. What choice is there left to our disposal but to flood the UFCW local office with memebership revokation forms and vote with our feet, cross that line and go to work.

quote:

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I'd suggest sticking to impartial, more intellectual sources and UFCW is far from the most credible or intelligent source around.

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OK, how about Human Rights Watch?

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every single complaint they make against Tyson and Lakeside can be made about Cargill, XL Meats,

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So are you saying that Tyson is just one of many bad actors in an admittedly awful industry? Or that the UFCW needs to fight the other employers for better standards, too? In either case, the strike on Lakeside seems an important first step.

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Terribletyson.com is just as incriminating of UFCW rep.ed shops in many ways so I really don't know what they hope to accomplish with that website.

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Maybe that the UFCW is finally fighting back?

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UFCW was certified at Lakeside in the fall of 2004 by 51% (bare miniumum).

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quote:

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It worked. 70% voted in favour of strike action (55% actual).

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So support for the union has increased since the certification vote, then.

[ 25 October 2005: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

As for the other poster who mentioned human rights watch.org. Most of the complaints in there result from managers actions, despite UFCW's attempt to make it look like corporate policy.

I'm new to this forum and I dislike being unable to see what I am responding to but as for the applicability of terribletyson to the others, I assumed with union everything will be just peachy. I was hoping to intelligently reply to that question but I didn't have much to work against.

The reason I brought it up is because UFCW will be using that stuff to launch a boycott against Tyson and Lakeside. COnsidering those plants have their own problems I have to question UFCW's integrity for resorting to what amounts to blackmail. And unions have it so harrrd, boo hoo.

quote:

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Originally posted by robbie_dee:

So support for the union has increased since the certification vote, then.

[ 25 October 2005: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Nam:
Gee, this thread is heating up. First of all, really good news. The federal meat inspectors have started refusing to go to work, resulting in no production at Lakeside. (I'm trying to link the news article.)

Workers spent hours Monday waiting to cross the picket line at Lakeside Packers only to be sent home early because federal meat inspectors did not enter the plant.

The rest of the article is behing the Calgary Herald's subscription wall. I believe the inspectors, mambers of PSAC, are stating that crossing the picket line places them in danger, and are rightfully refusing to do this. Lakeside can't process anything without the inspectors there, so this is a tangible sign of solidarity.

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A lot of people on here are such that if you don't believe lock step with them, they resort to name calling. I found this site because I was looking for people who were logically knowledgable about what was going on. The fact that you work there (I assume you aren't pulling chains) is a gold mine for me (and makes it worth suffering the childish taunts and improper characterizations of ideological socialists here)

If you have time, I (and we as to the people who want the knowledge) would like to know:

(1) what kind of job you have there and do you do the same thing all the time or have you been able to move from job to job.?

(2) if you have a social (outside) relationship with the other workers (both picket and non-picket) is it contentious on the non-work side too.?

(3) you indicated that a lot of problems are caused by the managers. Is it because they are not too bright? or because they don't buffer their orders with common sense?

(4) how many separate production sub units are there inside? is there one large line or is it physically split into smaller sub unit lines which can be run continuously.

(5) Do the inspectors have to be there during the meat cutting or during shipment. Do they (by law) have to be there during operations? Does this impact the ability or willingness to either do or refrain from doing (a) 24 hour operations, (b) weekend operations?

(6) lastly, just for grins (based on companies where I have worked) (a) what is the most ridiculous thing you have ever seen at the plant, and (b) does the company do anything like a company picnic or Christmas time food give-away? (one company I used to work for traded its product to poland for canned hams and cheeses and although it was pretty "cheesy" they handed them out at christmas.

quote:

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CANADA: SUPPORT TYSON FOODS WORKERS

More than 2,300 workers at the Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Brooks
(Alberta) Canada, members of UFCW Local 401, are on strike for a first
collective bargaining agreement. Major issues are basic workplace
protections like an end to harassment, improved safety training, and
better handling of biological hazards. The majority of the workers are
immigrant workers and refugees from Sudan and Somalia, lured to Alberta
with the promise of a good job and a more secure future for their
families. Tyson Foods is the Wal-Mart of the meat industry, dominating
27 percent of all beef, pork and chicken sales in the U.S. Tyson has no
financial need to demand sub-standard wage and benefit levels for
workers in the U.S. or Canada. To learn more, and to send a message of
support for the union to Tyson Foods, click here:

---

quote:

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Originally posted by lucas:
I heard on the news this morning that the meat inspectors will be back on the job this morning after Lakeside agreed to take steps which would guarantee the inspectors' safety. How they will accomplish this is anyone's guess.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bacchus:
From my labourstart.org mailing list

To support the strike

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Actually, judging from the differences between the DIB proposal and Lakseide's counter offer, it's doubtful whether UFCW has been honest in stating its objection to the company's C.A.

To be frank, honesty hasn't been one of their strong points and well, if you don't go along with them even when they are the minority you will be threatened, harassed, and your property damaged. Such a wonderful and noble group.

No problem about sharing the nitty gritty. Yes, I really do work at Lakeside. I am not management, just a lowly labourer.

On to your questions. I tried rushing thru them coz well I just got home and I kinda need to get this issue off my mind. It is no fun and these people gleefully swallowing union nonsense are enough to make me want to be ill. With that siad and with realizing this site seems to be geared towards the blindly pro-union socialist demagogues, this is my last post here. Not enough aspirin in the world to make this enjoyable.

Firstly, what I do there. I must decline in revealing that. Things are crazy enugh here that I do worry somewhat about personal safety and vandalism. My position there is actually fairly visible in our department so if I reveal too much I could reveal my identity to someone who may not like what I've said, but someone's gotta do it. This strike could cost people on both sides very dearly and I refuse to believe a strike is the answer nor will even work.

As for what my job involves, it's completely technical, repetitive and requires constant concentration. I don't cut meat, kill cows, or mop up blood and guts etc or much along the lines of physical work. It sounds cushy but it's not a job most people would or could do. The reason I have this position is due to my skills and experience, not because of my redneck heritage. The person who did it before me was Sudanese and before him was an Ethiopian so I find these suggestions that blacks and whomever always get the crappy jobs to be utter BS. White people get them too *smiles*. People are placed where they are best suited and or who's best at what. I dont have much opportunity to move around because we are short on trained people but if I did put up a fuss I'm sure they'd move me.

As for friends outside of work. Well, I see them around and after spending 8-12 hours with them 5 or 6 days a week I have had my fill. Everyone there seems to get along very well and the only real trouble came with this union. I haven't seen any of my coworkers who chose to picket since the strike began and I don't think it will cause problems. Out of the 40 or so people in my dept. only a fw are picketing. Two of which are doing so only because of threats by the union. One is strangely enough Sudanese and I thought this union was a friend to our Sudanese workers. Also a few indivduals have openly threatened others in their dept. with physical violence if they choose to cross the line so what little there is of the picket line is built in intimdation and folks...that's how unions work. Wake up FFS!

Regarding problems from managers. That depends on a few things. It could be a matter of trying to cut corners, poor judgmenent, stupidity, misunderstadning, etc or pressure from their superiors. What I've seen it has never been about racism or what UFCW makes out as truth. Just as any other person, managers get tired, frustrated and may so something they shouldn't liek anyone else so to expect them to behave perfectly is being unrealsitic.

As for the layout of the plant. It consists mainly of a kill floor with a cooler/warehouse in between it and processing where the carcasses are broken down adn cut into regular cuts of meat. It is all one progressive line but there are actually several independent chains as well as the cooler where carcasses are warehoused for 24hrs before being graded then moved out by chain to yet another cooler near processing.

Regarding the food inspectors, who are being singled out by the union because they know damn well we can't run without them, are an absolute necessity. We can't kill nor cut. The only area which can actually operate wihtout inpsectors is the cooler because we have a full time indpendent grader(s) and quality control staff. Grading and cooling the meat it about all the cooler does, then moves it out after that so that is the only exception where inspectors are not required.

Lastly, the most ridiculous thing I saw there was a friend throwing a rock hard cheeseburger at the cafeteria staff. WOrk is pretty mundane to be honest. As for little perks. WE have an annual comnay picnic, Xmas time gift certificates, annual golf tourney and the occasional free luch/beef BBQ and the beef is so fresh it still moos.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bacchus:
From my labourstart.org mailing list

To support the strike

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One last thing. You should really checks your facts. Of the 2300 workers, about 1200 are crossing the picket line while about 300 are picketing. AS for the Sudanese workers, it sounds as though they are being dragged out of Sudan to come to slave at Lakeside for up to around 3 times Alberta's minimum wage plus benefits. FUnny thing is so many of the Sudanese are there because they had family working there who invited them there to work, utilizing Lakeside's employee referral program and while netting a few hndred bucks per person. Most if not all of the Sudanese were hired out of Southern Ontario, not Sudan.

Interesting to hear that inspectors are necessary for both kill and cut and that they are necessary for all operations but the chill & ship.

I understand the need to keep QT about the job as anyone (especially the socialist types) would be a threat to try and make trouble within the trouble that goes on.

Intimidation is ugly whether from the union or management, but O'Halloran knows that the plant is worth $780,000 if he pulls it off. I'd much rather see a non-profit type union (if necessary) by the workers at the immediate plant. Workers could use the $780,000 for their own needs rather than sending it to a UCFW vault in the US.

I wish there was a forum where you could splill it all. My e-mail is [email protected] It is a blind box in South Africa I rarely use, and you can e-mail me there.

Again, your words from someone on the scene trumps any possible opinion based on hearsay; and it is immensely valuable to anyone wanting the inside facts. If you can put up with it, keep posting here as I read your stuff with great interest.

Keep safe,

[ 27 October 2005: Message edited by: Anarchonostic ]

quote:

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Originally posted by ptx:
W
I wish there was a forum where you could splill it all.

---

http://www.freedominion.ca/

You guys can scorn socialism and blind pro-unionists there without the headaches.

You're welcome, Connie.

With absolute sincerity,

Anarcho.

[ 26 October 2005: Message edited by: Anarchonostic ]

Cattle slaughter resumes at Lakeside

PETER CRNOGORAC

Medicine Hat News

BROOKS

Cattle are being slaughtered once again at Lakeside Packers after a three-day halt of production, according to U.S. owner Tyson Foods.

The production began thanks to a court decision on Thursday morning that allows Federal food inspectors to freely come and go by strikers into the large meat-packing plant on the outskirts of Brooks.

Tyson Foods spokesperson Gary Mickelson said a court injunction filed at Court of Queen's Bench early on Thursday has allowed the meat inspectors to resume their job.

"It says strikers can't threaten, obstruct or detain the meat inspectors from entering or leaving the plant," Mickelson said about the legality of the decision.

"Also, it states that when meat inspectors approach the entrance, strikers must clear the way and let them pass without delay."

Mickelson said he estimates 1,100 workers made it into the plant on Thursday. He said both slaughtering and processing took place throughout the day.

According to Phil Amundson, spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), about 20 to 25 inspectors and veterinarians passed peacefully over the line.

Doug O'Halloran, the United Food and Commercial Workers union local 401 president, says the union and members will follow the law but he doesn't believe it is the proper decision.

"I don't think they should get special treatment. They're crossing the picket line like everyone else."

In the past three days work ceased when the CFIA -- citing concerns for its employees' safety crossing the at-times rambunctious line -- refused to send inspectors and veterinarians into the plant.

Mickelson said on Wednesday he believed some inspectors were sympathetic to the union's plight. He added Tyson Foods was looking at the possibility of suing the CFIA for the estimated millions that Tyson lost while the plant was idle.

On Thursday, although happy the inspectors were at work, he said the legal option may still be a necessity.

"We still question the CFIA's decision and we have lawyers looking at our options."

He explained that although the plant is producing, Tyson can't forget the fact they lost millions over the three non-productive days.

In the past three days, tensions have been low on the picket lines. However, now that production has hit its stride again some feel tempers will rise.

Like a group of friends spending night after night at one another's house, some who have been within close quarters and

on friendly terms since the strike began are starting to show signs of getting sick of one another.

UFCW spokesperson Tom Hesse said RCMP officers have been telling pickets to watch their language.

Ya we are running and are we ever!

Judging from what the kill floor has been doing I'd say productivity is up by about 15-20% or more. Processing is running at full tilt as well. We are down to one production shift but we are still running.

It is amazing what happens when the deadwood decides it isn't respected or paid enough then goes on strike. This might work in Lakeside's favour lol.

As for the CFIA they are of course on site and good thing because as civil servants not only are they at risk of being sued by Tyson, I've contemplated the possiblity of a class action suit if their activites or lack thereof began costing people their earnings.

AS you guessed, Tyson paid us to do nothing for the first bit of the strike but eat free food and chit chat.

quote:

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Originally posted by redbeard:
Does any one here have any information on the lakeside strike in the 80's... how did they braek the union back then?

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So glad someone asked this.

This occurred well before my time there but as I understand it, Lakeside was then a union shop with a contract. I beleive what happened is on the expiry of the contract, Lakeside wanted to roll back wages by about $3/hr. That seems pretty draconian but this occurred during very, very bad economic times in Alberta. Besides, Doug O'Halloran peronally negotiated a hefty rollback for Safeway workers in the 90's.

The National Energy Program worked its "wonders" on the province while coinciding with poor/dry weather conditions and as I mentioned before, a shift in the industry towards massive scale/reduced cost production.

UFCW wouldn't accept the rollback and went on strike. The plant closed for a month or two then reopened. No idea if it was a lockout or anything. Anyhoo, just as with the current strike, it seemed to be dictated by a vocal minority and with the plant reopening, people crossed.

That strike went on for close to 4 years while the plant ran behind a picket of less than 100 people. Lakeside was also much smaller then.

What ended it was the union. They simply gathered up their tents and whatever and left town, stopped paying strike pay and left its members standing in a ditch. The reason: the strike wasn't working. It only took around 4 years to figure it out. We hope they will see the wrting on the wall sooner this time.

Besides we aren't fighting against wage cuts this time and the differnce between the DIB proposal and Tyson's modified contract is about $ 1.9 million. Mere peanuts and hardly a difference that coudn't be negotitated around yet they just had to have their strike.

By the way union fat cats have unlimited expense accounts during a strike...just thought I'd throw that in and uninizing Lakeside now would net UFCW close to $900,000 per year. If they jacked up their dues by an extra $20/month like they just did to Safeway employees that yearly income would of course be much much higher.

Are you management?

How long have you living in Brooks?

quote:

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Originally posted by outlandist:
Ya figure? I thought they were masochists.

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quote:

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Originally posted by robbie_dee:
It's so nice of Tyson management to take the time on their Saturday night to pop by this thread and update us.

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Oh...yeah. I forgot about that cornucopia of knowledge terribletyson.com.

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"I read this informative book with disbelief and mounting rage. Being denied the biologic right to urinate not only injures the kidneys but is probably a potent risk factor for heart problems. It has been amply demonstrated that work pressure, no-exit situations, and psychologic stressors predispose to progressions of coronary vascular disease. I can think of few stresses more intolerable than the pressures of a full bladder. Not even criminals in solitary confinement confront such torment. This is a vitally important book. It merits the widest dissemination. Without public pressure, such demeaning of human beings will not be halted."--Bernard Lown, M.D., Harvard School of Public Health

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[ 30 October 2005: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

As I mentioned before, we can go pretty much whenever we want and breaks are scheduled 2-3 hours apart. If you can't hold it that long or find enough time to go on a break perhaps certain people shouldn't drink enormous cups of tea then return late to work on a production line in a plant that has an employee shortage. There are plenty of jobs there not on the line and if one has such plumbing troubles, they can always ask for and get a transfer.

Do abuses occur? You bet? Is it widepread? Is it one-sided? Nope and nope! Will a union change any of that? Doubtful and HRW does seem to level accusations at the indusry as a whole.

The UFCW rep.ed Cargill plant in High River is well known to be a pressure cooker, unlike Lakeside in relative terms. Assuming we don't decertify this 'union' what will change at Lakeside? Well, we will be paying union dues to a union that is arguably more corrupt than Tyson and has a proven record of being poor negotiators and strike hungry inciters of violence.

While you are parousing the internet for rebuttal material, look up the Gainers strike and various others occurring in Alberta. The Gainers strike was particularly violent, as were a few others. Despite UFCW's attempt to inflame the Lakeside strike with rehtoric, hidden weapons and the very well paid replacement professional picketers/thugs from Cargill and other places, the Lakeside strike has been relatively peaceful. Maybe because the picketers as bieng a statistical minoirty know they run a high risk of having their asses thuroughly kicked in by severely pissed off workers. What common thread exists? They were all UFCW strikes at UFCW shops.

The Lakeside strike has seen numerous charges laid against mostly union people for vandalism, threats, assault and weapon offenses. Those Lakeside managers charged for running that blithering idiot off the road were Lakeside employees during the first strike and as for Garnet Altwasser, he is the founder and former owner of Lakeside Packers.

Million dollar question. Who defied LRB orders and was charged with mischief and weapons related offenses on the first day of the strike. Did that bus really try to run over picketers? Doubtful since no charges were ever laid and there are cops all over that line. Vehicular assualt is a pretty serious offense. What injuries were sustained by picketers were never confirmed to be the result of a the bus 'barging through' (see RCMP K-division news release) and were likely caused by picketers damaging vehicles which was observed by RCMP.

Which union coached many immigrant workers how to fill in their ballot for the certification vote? Who told them such things as they would no longer need to pay income tax if they joined the union? Who stirred up all that animosity between blacks and whites etc. and tensions between Christian and Muslim Sudanese and between Sudanese and the Somali workers?

About 1/4 of Tyson's plants are unionized with UFCW so am I to assume therefore Tyson is only 3/4 corrupt? What will change other than UFCW's bottom line by unionizing one plant?

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No, for the second time I am not management. I started at Lakeside less than 2 years ago as a labourer, as I am now, and was up until not long ago a member of UFCW local 401.

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quote:

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As I mentioned before, we can go pretty much whenever we want and breaks are scheduled 2-3 hours apart.

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quote:

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Which union coached many immigrant workers how to fill in their ballot for the certification vote? Who told them such things as they would no longer need to pay income tax if they joined the union? Who stirred up all that animosity between blacks and whites etc. and tensions between Christian and Muslim Sudanese and between Sudanese and the Somali workers?

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quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:
The Lakeside strike has seen numerous charges laid against mostly union people for vandalism, threats, assault and weapon offenses. Those Lakeside managers charged for running that blithering idiot off the road were Lakeside employees during the first strike and as for Garnet Altwasser, he is the founder and former owner of Lakeside Packers.

Million dollar question. Who defied LRB orders and was charged with mischief and weapons related offenses on the first day of the strike. Did that bus really try to run over picketers? Doubtful since no charges were ever laid and there are cops all over that line. Vehicular assualt is a pretty serious offense. What injuries were sustained by picketers were never confirmed to be the result of a the bus 'barging through' (see RCMP K-division news release) and were likely caused by picketers damaging vehicles which was observed by RCMP.

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quote:

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Originally posted by robbie_dee:

Why is it I don't believe a word you say?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Aristotleded24:

Do you not think that:
a) given that business has more influence over policy than unions that maybe the RCMP would be harder on the unions than the company reps because the company reps have more clout and could defend themselves better than the unions?

b) since most media is owned by commercial interests and is dependent on those for its advertising dollars to make profit, that they'd be inclined to be more sympathetic to the company and not so much to the union?

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0_o

...

(1) What's it like going in every day? Are you held up at the gate? Are you instructed to come 10 minutes earlier to make up for delays? Has the company arranged a remote lot with bussing in?

(2) Do you have any friends/contacts at the other Cargill plant? Are things run any differently at Cargill from what you have compared with the employees?

(3) Have any of the other strikers come to a realization that it is in effect "over" and simply returned to work (and more importantly are they allowed to do this?) Put another way, are the people who have missed work for the last two weeks effectively quit/ceased employment/off the books/fired?
If they have simply returned to work, have they simply blended back in well?

(4) I'd like to have your comment on the following> "from what I have read, things will continue as per normal, under the present mode of operating for years to come" Under this circumstance the strike is in reality over (again assuming that a scaled down operation can remain profitable). The news story generally indicated that the union may pay for pickets 1-4 on skeleton to keep up a "whine" presence for 3-4 years. Did you really see a presence of picketers for 3-4 years after normal operations like the ones (presumptively ) just started?

(5) I'd like to know the reaction of everyone to O'Halloran's call to ban Canadian/Albertan beef.
What are you hearing from Cargil people?
from the town city hall?
Except for the threat from OHalloran, I have heard silence from the politicos.

(6) have any "overhead/staff -type managers" been put back onto the line (since it may be strange to have the full complement of accountants to handle 1/2 speed accounts payable/receivable??

Not one single person I talked to intends to accpet the deal. Why? Beacuse they are so pissed with this union they simply want them gone and by accepting the deal, the union is 'in'. Aside from my feelings towards this union, I can empathize with the picketers. Lakeside isn't the best employer but far from the worst.

I myself just learned it's an entriely new proposal so I am willing to base my decision on the merits of the deal itself rather than my feelings towards UFCW. If there's a closed shop clause, I will vote against it. There are other ways we can expel them, if needed, without dragging a strike on indefinitely.

Anyhoo..all I have time for today. Oh and PTX I'll try to get to your questions tomorrow.

One last thing....

I AM NOT MANAGEMENT... AHHHHHH!!!

There's been quite a lot of vehicles damaged here too as well as the threats and whatever. Ever since Lakeisde decided bussing people across was a bad idea (because of the new picket at the feeders) they've been footing the bill for damages to vehicles. I still won't drive my car to work as it's brand new.

As for those people who "approached" management to demand "better working conditions".They were fired for job abandonment and conducting an illegal walkout. Most were given warnings before being ultimately fired.

All that occurred after an outside cleaning contractor fired a number of people for showing up drunk and fighting. Most of the people fired I beleive were Sudanese in addition to one of their foremen who is white.

This seemed to cause an uproar in some members of the Sudanese community and among the demands made was to cancel the contract with the contractor. Additionally was word of demands to have in effect, a Sudanese level of senior management.

As far as a fact finding investigation, I'd like to see that. The union has put out and exaggereated so much garbage it blows my mind but people just love to buy into it.

At this point it doesn't seem to matter much anymore. The new contract propsal is as good as dead and I've just learned of a split in the union because people are now asking why the heck did we go on strike to begin with. The workers who aren't picketing by and large will not let the union in even if it means the picket stays up for years. I've decided the best thing at this point is to reject the offer and to continue to push to have the UFCW decertified.

I kinda hope once the dust settles we form our own union and keep our focus and dues where they are needed adn nowhere else. We don't need some outsider barging in to turn our lives into some media drama for political purposes. This strike cost two people their lives for the sake of causing some irreconcilable disastrous dispute so teh government would waltz in with first contract binding arbitration and in doing so, rewrite Alberta's labour code.

I am speculating (please comment) that based on what I have read, that cattlemen & associations were starting to plan "mom and pop" meat packing facilities to compete with the big houses and perhaps they wanted to stem the tide of vertical downstream integration by the cattle ranchers. With the smaller "mom and pop" houses, labor disruption would be completely foreclosed.

So, what is your take on this, and what is your prediction on the vote?

What, if any, comments has management made about the upcoming vote?

quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:

I kinda hope once the dust settles we form our own union and keep our focus and dues where they are needed adn nowhere else. We don't need some outsider barging in to turn our lives into some media drama for political purposes. This strike cost two people their lives for the sake of causing some irreconcilable disastrous dispute so teh government would waltz in with first contract binding arbitration and in doing so, rewrite Alberta's labour code.

If there's any rewrite in the works I hope to God it also includes tight restrictions put on unions so this idiocy is not repeated.

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You're asking for the Alberta labour code to be rewritten, so as to include tight restrictions on unions?

In all seriousness, the two members that died - blaming the unions' actions for that incident is not the right thing to do, in my opinion.

Blargh, understand that in a lot of babblers' experiences, the employers are just as guilty of provoking and prolonging labour disputes as the unions. You're not a troll, and I believe you are not management. I would take a lot of things you say with a grain of salt, as I do with rumours on my picket line - if you're not witness to it, you are victim to someone elses' bias - period. And you will believe the accounts that your biases are weak to - it's human nature.

quote:

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Originally posted by John K:
I've resisted posting b/c responding to Blargh's one-person misinformation campaign would take a lot more time than I care to commit.

Suffice it to say I can't remember a labour dispute where the union has compromised as much as in this one to get a first contract. As I understand it, the tentative agreement does contain modest improvements in some areas including wages, and the membership will render its verdict tomorrow.

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Misinformation? Or another angle? If you're with UFCW I really have to laugh, sorry.

Asking too much then comign down to earth is not compromise.

The agreement to be voted on has only slight increases over the previous and mostly for janoitorial and maintenance. The clause for union membership was also tightened so that for current members, union membershp becomes a condition of employment.

PS to pTX...havent forgot you..jsut gotta rush off to ughh work now.

[ 04 November 2005: Message edited by: blargh ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Anarchonostic:

You're asking for the Alberta labour code to be rewritten, so as to include tight restrictions on unions?

.

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I'd defintely like to see it the criteria for certification raised as well as some adjustment when it comes to strike votes.

PS and as for whose to blame for thsoe deaths, if those people weren't on some ill advised mega-flop of a strike to begin with theyd stil be alive.

[ 04 November 2005: Message edited by: blargh ]

quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:

PS and as for whose to blame for thsoe deaths, if those people weren't on some ill advised mega-flop of a strike to begin with theyd stil be alive.

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Well, I'm going to quibble over this reasoning.

What you're doing is effectively saying the union should be charged with negligence causing death?

I'm not going to buy that without some further explanation. I didn't buy it when the UFCW used that reasoning, either.

If a solidier flies to Baton Rouge for basic training, after voluntarily joining the US military, and that plane crashes, I would not blame the US government for her death. She could have just as easily been flying to start training to join a convent, or to a Young Republican retreat. However, if that soldier dies in Iraq, fighting in military operations, then I think a case could be made for blaming her organisation for her death.

quote:

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Originally posted by ptx:
Ok Blargh, here is some math. Papers report that the basic worker will get $0.60 per hour more which works out to $24.00 per week. But they will deduct $6.00 per week from pay on union dues (so that O'Halloran can get an extra $780,000 per year). Net net is $18 per week and probably a whole bunch more problems from having a union "straw boss" around.

I am speculating (please comment) that based on what I have read, that cattlemen & associations were starting to plan "mom and pop" meat packing facilities to compete with the big houses and perhaps they wanted to stem the tide of vertical downstream integration by the cattle ranchers. With the smaller "mom and pop" houses, labor disruption would be completely foreclosed.

So, what is your take on this, and what is your prediction on the vote?

What, if any, comments has management made about the upcoming vote?

Does the contract give the union control of the plant? discipline? grievance procedures? or is this a bare bones wage increase, with O Halloran biding his time to do more of an invasive take over in 4 years. Of course to the union, they will get an extra $780,000 per year no matter what, but I wanted to know what the non-wage aspects of the contract were.....

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I'm feeling verry burnt out form all of this so I'm gonna tackle this post and leave the other for tomorrow.

As far as wage increases go, it's only a very little bit more than what our bargaining committee referred to as such an "insult" that a strike was needed...and quick before that hokey strike mandate runs out!!!

What brough this proposal to the surface was some contacts local ranchers and the RCMP had with the union. Judging from what I've heard coming form the ranching community, had UFCW went ahead with its beef boycott, UFCW would've been run outta Dodge so to speak and I don't think the RCMP nor the riot teams stationed nearby could do much about it.

The bargaining committee abandoned the boycott plan citing it could not be done in "good conscience". Funny thing was about that boycott too... it didn't mention one of Lakeside's major customers (Safeway) whose workers are rep.ed by UFCW.

I've had several contract proposals laying around and I'm quite sick of looking at them. As far as I can tell, wage wise, this contract offers no initial gains to slaughter or processing workers over that of Tyson's modified DIB proposal. Just the same compressed wage schedule the union balked at but is now promoting as a highlight of this proposal. Over the term of the proposed contract it offers $1.70 in increases compared to $1.35.

The only departments which got any upward wage adjustment were maintenance, janitorial and I think quality control. Factroing in union dues we're no better off monetarily and if union dues increase we may lose.

All in all it's hardly any different than what Tyson offered after the DIB fiasco. As mentioned before, union membership is no longer strictly voluntary but becomes a condition of employment for current members. New hires retain the option of union memebership.

There is nothing in there so noteworthy to make it stand out from any mediocre contract. The typical grievance procedure. Still the same no strike no lockout clause which Dougie complained to the ALRB about. It's the same thing we were offered by Tyson with a few very slight changes. I see no mention of guranteed potty breaks and I believe our breaks were adequste provding people did their business.

The 'dignity and respect' clause if you could call it that is the standard thou shalt not discriminate against workers on the grounds of race, sex, ethnicity, etc. This was already standard company policy!!! I'm not exactly sure how one could could codify "dignity and repect" to begin with.

The only thing ratifying this contract will bring is a union presence. The war will only begin here as the resentment to this union and the picketers is quite strong. I doubt it will get more than 40% approval so the finer points of the agreement and what follows is purely academic. I wish I had a scanner so I could email a copy.

Management hasn't siad a word about the offer. They know damn well it will be shot down and they'd probably be in hot water with the union and the LRB if there was even a hint of them prejudicing the vote. All they did was give us a copy of the proposal.

AS for the cooperative outfits which are springing up. I see that as a good thing. IMHO these huge packing plants are far too prone to pathogen contamination and the only real solution I feel is irradiation which few are comfortable with... yet we all use microwave ovens to make popcorn *shrug*. On the economic side it is again a plus so long as they remain viable and can compete with the big guys. It would go a long way to stablizing the market since we all know by now the huge plants are attractive lucrative targets for unions and thus prone to labour disputes.

quote:

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Originally posted by Anarchonostic:
What you're doing is effectively saying the union should be charged with negligence causing death?

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Mmmm no, but it proves my point that strikes are dnagerous and counterproductive. After all is said and done (but it isn't) we got

1) a union and its dues

2) an oh so slight yearly increase.

3) and the privelge of going through it all again in 2010

At the cost of 2 lives, numerous charges laid, over a million bucks wasted on policing, lost wages for picketers and those who felt unsafe crossing, near rampant vandalism, a near race riot and a redneck rebellion.

Hardly seems worth it.

quote:

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The only thing ratifying this contract will bring is a union presence. The war will only begin here as the resentment to this union and the picketers is quite strong. I doubt it will get more than 40% approval so the finer points of the agreement and what follows is purely academic. I wish I had a scanner so I could email a copy.

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Well Blargh as I suspected all along you are nothing but a Management troll, scab or are completely out of touch with your own co-workers because ...

Lakeside workers approve tentative deal

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Workers at an Alberta meat-packing plant that has been at the centre of a turbulent strike have voted in favour of a tentative deal.

Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union say the contract was ratified by 57 per cent of the approximately 1,600 people who voted.

Those on hand at the voting centre screamed and chanted when the results were announced, yelling: "We won, the union's in!''

The three-week strike was held to try and get a first contract at the Lakeside Packers plant, owned by Arkansas-based Tyson Foods.

Union officials had been predicting a tight vote.

They also said that while the deal falls short of what a government arbitrator recommended last summer, it's better than what the company offered.

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For some time, I have been biting my tongue with your completely ignorant comments about how the bargaining process works:

- Your wish to further turn Alberta into Alabama North with an illegal wish to not have a closed union shop. (google "rand formula" one day to see what the law says, but hey I'll tell you what; let's scrap the rand formula and give us back our right to stage a wildcat whenever we want).

- Your wish to form your "own Union" without ever once even stating a view from the worker's perspective.

quote:

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PS and as for whose to blame for thsoe deaths, if those people weren't on some ill advised mega-flop of a strike to begin with theyd stil be alive.

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"Mega-flop of a strike"? These workers got a first contract after a three-week strike at a viciously anti-union company. (Are any other Tyson plants in North America organized?)

quote:

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Originally posted by robbie_dee:
I was so glad to see this news. My thoughts are with the brave strikers who stood together, stood strong and won this important victory.

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Yeah now they can start cleaning up all those nails scattered all over and pay for the repairs on people's vehicles.

quote:

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Originally posted by a lonely worker:
Blargh says:

For some time, I have been biting my tongue with your completely ignorant comments about how the bargaining process works:

- Your wish to further turn Alberta into Alabama North with an illegal wish to not have a closed union shop. (google "rand formula" one day to see what the law says, but hey I'll tell you what; let's scrap the rand formula and give us back our right to stage a wildcat whenever we want).

- Your wish to form your "own Union" without ever once even stating a view from the worker's perspective.

To my sisters and brothers at Brooks. Thanks for inspiring us with your solidarity in the face of incredible racism and intolerance. You are a credit to all workers across this country!

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lonely worker... you are truly one sad ignorant specimen and gullible to boot. I am significantly more 'in touch' with the people I work with than you can sanctimoniously dream. I know what the fucking Rand formula is so get off the high horse and as for not being a negotiating genius... well shit, how about a bunch of intellectually inferior labourers so high on their self-imnportance that they call a strike with the plan that the govt. would step in after three days. I am of course referring to our bargaining committee and I happen to know one of these people and what this person kept telling coworkers.

HOw's that for trolling.

quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:

Mmmm no, but it proves my point that strikes are dnagerous and counterproductive.

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No, it doesn't. We're talking about a car accident involving a few people commuting from a shift. By your standards, working is dangerous and counterproductive if someone dies on the commute.

Sure, argue the point that strikes are dangerous. But don't do it by using this example, because it just doesn't make sense. Using the accident as proof is pure rhetorical bluster.

Otherwise, I'm glad an agreement has been reached.

But don't hold any animosity towards the users of this forum - a quick look around the place could have clued you in to the fact that this is a very pro-union place. What did you expect?

quote:

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Striker Peter Jany said the pickets will have to "leave what happened behind us and build new relationships and fix friendships. We must make it clear that what we did was not for us, but for all employees."

The plant will resume normal operations on Monday, marking a new and optimistic beginning for workers, said O'Halloran.

"Come Monday we'll reach out to those who crossed the picket line because we're all on the same side," he said.

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Blargh might be pleasantly surprised how quickly the bitter feelings caused by the strike dissipate when he returns to work on Monday. It is very much in the interests of the union to heal these divisions as quickly as possible.

And in reply to an earlier post, no I don't either work for or belong to UFCW. I've believed for a long time though that Doug O'Hallaran has been underestimated as a labour leader.

We have a contract now and I hope both sides can learn to forgive and forget and move on. I am actually releived it is finally over and this was finally the 'proper vote' we never had. UFCW was always at a disadvantage here with its history at Lakeside and luekwarm certification approval so starting small and earning the trust and repsect of workers was needed to make this work. No one likes having somethign rammed down their throat.

As for where I am from, that would be Kitimat. It's a heavily unionized town on the north coast and sadly, it is dying day by day . Even the Dairy Queen is unionized with CAW and its workers earn about $13/hr. The main industry there is Alcan's behemoth aluminum smelter which long ago had United Steelworkers of America as its union. This goes back to when I was a mere sprout but I remeber the wildcat strike there in 1972 I beleive and it was uglier than sin. The army was there to keep order. In the aftermath of it the workers decertified the union and started their own union, CASAW local 1, and it was by no means a rat union. It remained independent up until 7 or 8 years ago then merged with Canadian Auto Workers.

We have a contract now and I hope both sides can learn to forgive and forget and move on. I am actually releived it is finally over and this was finally the 'proper vote' we never had. UFCW was always at a disadvantage here with its history at Lakeside and luekwarm certification approval so starting small and earning the trust and repsect of workers was needed to make this work. No one likes having somethign rammed down their throat.

As for where I am from, that would be Kitimat. It's a heavily unionized town on the north coast and sadly, it is dying day by day . Even the Dairy Queen is unionized with CAW and its workers earn about $13/hr. The main industry there is Alcan's behemoth aluminum smelter which long ago had United Steelworkers of America as its union. This goes back to when I was a mere sprout but I remeber the wildcat strike there in 1972 I beleive and it was uglier than sin. The army was there to keep order. In the aftermath of it the workers decertified the union and started their own union, CASAW local 1, and it was by no means a rat union. It remained independent up until 7 or 8 years ago then merged with Canadian Auto Workers.

Anyhoo I hope that answers a few questions and better illustrates my POV and thanks for being civil unlike some others.

[ 05 November 2005: Message edited by: blargh ]

quote:

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Originally posted by blargh:
Exactly what do you mods do here anyhoo? Ban and harangue posters who don't agree with you?

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