"I've never done this before," said picket captain Zorka Vlaho. "I have one year to go before retirement. But I'm fighting for the next generation."

The unionists are opposing attacks on seniority rights and are fighting for job security. Vlaho said, "Without seniority rights we don't have a union. Without a union we haven't got anything."  
 
Bosses after seniority rights
Strikers explained that the company is demanding an end to plant-wide seniority, a move that would limit workers' seniority rights to their own job classification. If the company gets its way, it will be able to hire workers into classifications without being obligated to retrain long-standing employees whose jobs may be cut with the introduction of new machinery in their classification.

Line speed is a safety issue for many workers because of the number of soft-tissue injuries like tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. "If you get injured they bring you back in the next day on light duty to avoid compensation," a striker said. "They'll even send a cab to bring you in."

A leaflet from the local union executive board distributed on the picket line pointed to the unity of the strikers in face of provocations by security guards and scab truck drivers hired by the company. Two pickets have been hit by cars.

On the street many motorists honk their horns in support of the pickets.

John Steele is a meat packer and member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 175/633.  
 
 
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