Smithfield Workers Win

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

After a two-day walk-out late last week by hundreds of Smithfield Packing workers in Tar Heel, North Carolina, Smithfield agreed to workers' demands to halt the wholesale firings of employees and agreed to reconsider their implementation of immigration policies in the plant.  The company, for the first time, also agreed to meet with a group of workers elected by the workers themselves to further negotiate about plant issues and employee concerns on Tuesday. "We're glad the company did the right thing and recognized that they were mistaken in the way that they were applying these policies,” said Gene Bruskin, UFCW Director of the Smithfield Justice campaign.  “The fact that they sat down and negotiated over the workers’ concerns is an example of the kind of process that benefits everyone, the company, community and employees allowing all to resolve differences.  This is a historic break from Smithfield Packing's long history of confrontation and intimidation of their workers in Tar Heel and we hope this will continue." Employees returned to work on Saturday, November 18.