The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 36      October 1, 2007

 
(front page)
Minnesota meat packers rally to defend union
NLRB calls decertification election
 
Militant/Tom Baumann
September 19 picket line outside Dakota Premium Foods preceded rally backing meat packers there defending their union from a company decertification drive.

As we go to press…

Seventy unionists from the Twin Cities area, including workers at Dakota Premium Foods, rallied across the street from the plant after work. Among the unions represented were the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, United Transportation Union Local 660, and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 3800, currently on strike against the University of Minnesota.

Earlier in the day, a delegation of six Dakota workers went to the company offices on their lunch break to demand management allow union representatives into the plant and stop harassment of union activists.

BY REBECCA WILLIAMSON  
SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minnesota, September 16—The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced September 12 that a union decertification election will be held at the Dakota Premium Foods beef slaughterhouse here. The plant is organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 789.

The election will take place at least 60 days from the date of the announcement. In the meantime, workers are stepping up their fight to keep the union in the plant.

“All of us have to vote for the union,” said kill floor worker Argelia Dias.

“No more stalling—justice now!” reads the leaflet for a September 19 protest in front of the plant. It lists what workers are fighting for in a new contract as “slower lines and adequate staff,” “wage increases,” “union access to the plant,” and “an end to blatant harassment of union stewards and leaders.”

Local 789 activists are building the protest by talking to coworkers and contacting other unions. They’ve also made announcements and passed out flyers at events in the community. They promoted the action at a benefit for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on strike at the University of Minnesota and at a Mexican Independence Day celebration.

“The protest is very important because you can see the union there, and the union is us, the workers,” said Dias. “We have to be there and support each other.”

On September 7, the company denied union representatives access to the plant. Pro-union workers on the kill and deboning sides passed out a flyer during break September 14 protesting this. “This denial is a violation of our Union Contract and also against national labor law for unionized work places,” the flyer said. “We must stand together over this outrageous attempt to separate us.”

For its part, management is stepping up efforts to get the union out. Hours before the union found out about the NLRB decision, management held a meeting in the plant with the workers. Plant manager Steve Cortinas said they wanted the election held as soon as possible. He said the company had given raises every year for the past 14 years, except for one. No discussion was allowed after Cortinas spoke.

“Like management said, take a look at the last 14 years and that’s exactly what we have to explain to workers,” said Dias. “For them to take a look at the real history.” The pro-union newsletter Workers’ Voice cites the case of Miguel Gutierrez, a worker who had almost 10 years seniority. In a recent company meeting, Gutierrez said there were no raises before workers won a union contract in 2002. Other workers have reported there were no raises for five years.

The meat packers have been working under an expired contract since the end of June, when the company launched its decertification campaign.

Rebecca Williamson is a trimmer at Dakota Premium Foods and a member of UFCW Local 789.
 
 
Related articles:
Meat packers union sues ICE over Swift raids  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home