PO Box 531  •  Durham,NC 27702  •  Telephone: (919) 419-8311  •  Fax: (919) 419-8315

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Smithfield walkout settled -- for now

After a massive walk-out that eventually involved over 1,000 employees, workers at Smithfield Foods have gone back to work -- for now:
Workers at Smithfield Foods slaughtering plant in North Carolina are planning to return to work today. [...]
Operations slowed at the Tar Heel plant yesterday.

But company officials met with representatives from a Roman Catholic Church to discuss the grievances. They agreed to allow employees who were laid off to return to work while they sort out the issues. And NO disciplinary action will be taken against the workers.
Unfortunately, the media is still suggesting that the job action was entirely about the company's attempt to fire undocumented workers, which caught authorized workers as well.

Yet interviews with the workers and representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers union clearly indicated that intimidation of union workers, sexual harassment, and the company's refusal to pay worker's compensation for plant-related injuries also contributed to the walk-out.
posted by Chris Kromm at 10:56 AM | Email this post | Post a Comment
1 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There are a lot of bad bills that the Republicans may try to ram through, but here's the worst of the worst - a bill to legalize the President's warrantless wiretapping program. The White House is desperate to enact this bill, which allows the government to spy on American citizens, on American soil, without a warrant." -Russ Feingold -

Why You Must Take Action NOW


=*=

11/19/2006 2:52 PM  

Post a Comment

Return to Facing South's main page

Southern News Update

Who Are These Folks?

CHRIS KROMM blogs three days a week for Facing South. He is Executive Director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute’s award-winning magazine, Southern Exposure.

R. NEAL blogs two days a week for Facing South. Based in Knoxville, TN, R. Neal formerly ran the popular blog South Knox Bubba. He is now coordinator of KnoxViews.

SUE STURGIS blogs three days a week for Facing South. The editorial coordinator of the Institute's Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch website, she is a freelance reporter who lives and works in Raleigh, NC.

Previous Posts