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DETROIT - "It is we, the workers, who with the sweat of our brows and backs, and with our labor, make possible all the meat orders this company has. That is why we deserve to be considered and listened to." So read one of the handwritten complaints handed to union officials at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 26 meeting April 21 in Detroit.

Forty workers from the ham boning department at Thorn Apple Valley's Frederick plant showed up at the meeting after working their regular 11-hour shift. The turnout was triggered by the firing of a young Mexican worker, who was falsely accused of chasing a lead man with a knife. Ten workers testified that they had witnessed the incident and that the lead man was lying about what happened. A few days later two of the witnesses were suspended for supposedly violating company rules. After two weeks management told the fired worker that he had to wait another two weeks for their decision on his reinstatement.

Three-quarters of the workers in the ham boning department left work a half hour early to carpool to the union meeting. Most are Mexican immigrants who do not speak English. In addition to protesting the unjust firing, the workers related examples of verbal abuse by the foreman, unequal pay for skilled jobs, violations of seniority provisions, and the bosses' refusal to allow workers to take bathroom breaks.

Several workers had taken time during the day to write out their grievances and opinions on scraps of paper and paper towels. They asked a co-worker who is bilingual to help translate their testimony.

A target of the workers' complaints was the foreman in ham boning. UFCW Local 26 president Sharon Lairy told the workers that there had been a long history of grievances against him.

Several workers translated the discussion at the union meeting between Spanish and English. The union officials agreed to organize a meeting with company representatives so the unionists could air their grievances. They said that the grievance for the fired worker still had to go to the fourth step. They also urged the workers to document further abuses by the company in writing.

The following week 12 workers from the plant got together to discuss the next steps to take and to write down more grievances.

Fieldcrest workers may vote again on union
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina - "The next one will be it. I got a feeling about it," said a woman at the Fieldcrest Cannon plant in Kannapolis, North Carolina. The worker, a cutter in the washcloth area with 29 years at the plant, was referring to the possibility of another vote at the mills in this area on whether to join the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. She said she's been through four organizing drives at the plant.

The news broke on April 20 that a hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board recommended that last August's union election be thrown out, on grounds that the company spied on workers attending union meetings. The union had lost the vote by a slim margin.

The 1997 election had been ordered by the NLRB after it set aside the results of the 1991 organizing drive on grounds that the company had violated federal laws in its antiunion campaign. It was cited for 150 unfair labor practices. In 1991 the union lost by 199 votes; the union lost the 1997 election by 369 votes with almost 5,000 workers in the sprawling mill complex voting.

The cutter, who preferred not to give her name, said one of the reasons she was optimistic about the next vote was that a lot of the immigrant workers in the plant were coming around, and had voted for the union. A young Laotian worker who bought a copy of the Militant at the plant gate said he'd voted for the union.

The company's spying had been blatant. According to the Salisbury Post, workers testified before NLRB representative Randall Malloy that they had to walk by a "gauntlet of supervisors" to attend meetings the union organized. The company, according to Malloy's, was engaged in activities "that were calculated to monitor, watch, identify and survey employees who were attending the meetings. In some plants the supervisors were under orders to list the names of employees attending these meetings."

One union supporter confirmed, "This company will resort to any kind of tricks to keep the union out." The worker, who also declined to give his name, said he'd been in the miners' union before, and so he understood that the union was "a question of dignity."

The timing for another election is still up in the air. The NLRB Board in Washington, D.C., has yet to hear and approve of Malloy's recommendations, and the company, now owned by Pillowtex, could appeal. In general, the sentiment of workers at the plant seemed to be optimistic. A Black woman who'd worked there for nine years told the Militant, "I might give out, but I'll never give up."

Teachers strike at Jobs Corp in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH - The 12 striking members of Teamsters Local 205 on the picket line against Res-Care are facing company goons with video cameras and a concerted effort to break their union. The strikers are teachers at the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center who walked out over company demands for an "open shop," pay raises based on "merit," and the company's right to subcontract all work.

The Pittsburgh Job Corps Center is operated by Res-Care under contract from the Department of Labor. Res-Care bought the center from Teledyne Economic Development, which had signed a contract with the Job Corps teachers and counselors. According to Wayne Zientarski, one of the strikers, the only change made with the new ownership was the firings of two workers.

Zientarski explained that the bargaining unit includes 17 teachers and 11 counselors. Of these, all the counselors and five teachers are crossing the line. He said the vocational teachers are members of another AFL-CIO union and are not crossing the picket line. The strikers have received support from UPS and Airborne Express drivers, as well as the drivers from Port Authority Transit, the local bus system.

The teachers have been fighting since 1995 for the right to unionize. The company claimed they were federal employees and had no rights to a union. But the workers fought through the courts and won a recognition that they worked for a private company and had a legal right to a union. Shortly after they ratified their first contract, July 31, 1997, the company sold itself to Res-Care, which refused to honor the contract.

Zientarski explained their willingness to fight by saying, "There's no way we'll go for an open shop. It won't work. We're not having it." He added that many people regarded union struggles as outmoded. "People thought that stuff was over. The pendulum was swinging and unions were passé. Now I think it's swinging the other way. "

Newark school staff fight concession demands
NEWARK, New Jersey -Chanting "the people united will never be defeated" and "We don't want welfare, we want jobs," some 300 members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 617 and Local 3 rallied April 28 in Newark, New Jersey. Some 2,000 SEIU members, many of whom are Black or Latino, are fighting against the school district's attempts to impose a three-year concession contract. The unionists have been working without a contract since Feb. 28.

"This is just the beginning," said food service worker Ami Taylor-Wilson. "If they [school district officials] think they're going to drag this on forever and give us a slap in the face, then they have to think again. We'll be out here time after time, and if that means strike, then we'll do it."

The state-controlled school district seeks to establish a two-tier wage scale for new custodians, drivers, cafeteria workers, and laborers at $10 per hour, down from an average starting wage of $14.50 per hour. Other concessions include mandatory weekend work for new custodians, cuts in medical benefits and vacation days, and a time limit of five working days for filing grievances.

The Newark Public School Advisory Board is attempting to roll back many of the rights the workers won during their last strike in 1978, including job title changes to avoid rehiring workers who lost their jobs during a massive layoff in 1996. "You have to sacrifice and fight sometimes to get what you want," said Thomas Crawford, member of Local 3, who has worked 17 years for the school system.

Busch brewery workers reject contract offer
Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch's 12 breweries rejected what the company called its final offer May 1.

The 8,000 Teamsters members have been working under the terms of their previous contract since it expired March 29. After earlier voting to authorize a strike, the workers voted 5,447 to 1,652 to not accept an offer they say threatens full-time jobs. Union negotiators had recommended rejecting the deal, which the company says is the best it will offer.

The company and union officials say they will resume negotiations.

Rosa Garmendía and Holly Harkness, members of UFCW Local 26 at Thorn Apple Valley in Detroit; Jane Roland, a member of the United Transportation Union in Greensboro; Chris Remple, a member of the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh; and Aaron Armstrong in Newark contributed to this column.  
 
 
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