Post by crudo on Oct 27, 2005 10:34:34 GMT -5
Pickets in for long haul
Several hundred walk the lines outside Livingston plant throughout the day
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 27, 2005, 05:22:08 AM PDT
LIVINGSTON — Striking workers at the Foster Farms chicken plant kept up spirited picketing for a second day Wednesday, while the company continued to report that the walkout has not slowed production.
About 1,600 employees have stayed on the job and about 700 have walked out, said Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms. Temporary replacement workers have filled in for the strikers, he said.
Ralph Meraz, the union leader, said the strikers number roughly 1,000. He said the company's claim about full production is doubtful because replacement workers lack experience in chicken processing.
The strike, launched over complaints about pay and working conditions, remained peaceful Wednesday. Several hundred workers picketed outside the plant, briefly slowing trucks going in and out, and jeering employees who continued to work.
"All the people out here — we believe we're going to win," said striker Magdalena Valencia, an employee for 21 years who works the deboning line.
The strike at the Livingston plant — Foster Farms' largest, and the top private employer in Merced County — started at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
The strikers are demanding $1.50 an hour in wage hikes over three years. They say the typical wage long has been about $9.50 an hour. They also have complained about health insurance costs, favoritism by supervisors and other problems.
"We're fighting because we want to have a union to defend our rights," said Maricela Perez, a seven-year employee who makes rotisserie chickens. "We aren't asking for a lot of money."
Foster Farms, which contends that the hourly pay averages about $10.50, has offered 35 cents in raises over three years. The company also refuses to make union membership mandatory in any new contract.
"We have a lot of employees who believe they should be able to decide whether they want to join a union," Walsh said.
The striking workers organized last year as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley. It affiliated last month with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Walsh said Foster Farms does not recognize the larger union as the employees' representative. He also said the company has no plans to fire workers who have walked out.
"It's their plant," he said. "It's their company."
Leafletting planned at stores today
The strikers include people from several parts of the plant, including raw chicken processors and packers, makers of corn dogs and other products, and warehouse and rendering workers.
Meraz, who heads the league, said pro-strike leafletting was planned for today at Costco stores in Modesto, Turlock and Merced. The membership discount chain is a major retailer of Foster Farms products.
Labor leaders are not planning actions at other Foster Farms plants, which have separate contracts with other unions, said Pedro Mendez, a San Mateo-based business representative for the machinist and aerospace union. The family-owned company has poultry plants in Turlock, Fresno, elsewhere in the state and a few cities outside California. The large Foster Farms dairy operation isn't a target of union action.
Mendez spent much of Wednesday with a bullhorn in hand, guiding pickets back and forth across streets next to the Livingston plant entrance.
"We're going to continue doing this," he said. "We'll see who gets tired."
Company provides buses, vans
Police said the strikers were complying with a request to stand back while vehicles went through, although the streets cleared slowly at times.
Meraz said the picketing was expected to go to about 11 p.m. Wednesday, then give way to a "skeleton" crew the rest of the night and resume in earnest at daybreak.
Many of the nonstriking workers left after Wednesday's day shift in company-provided buses and vans, which took them to a Foster Farms property north of Livingston. Workers leaving this site in their own vehicles declined to comment.
Many of the pickets went through the last strike at the plant, a 1997 walkout that ended after 15 days and brought them a pay increase of just 5 cents per hour.
Valencia said she has bad memories of that strike because she said the workers were "betrayed" by the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represented them at the time.
She said the current walkout, even if it is a long one, is worthwhile because of the rising cost of housing and other necessities.
"It's not hard for us, because we believe in justice," she said.
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.
Several hundred walk the lines outside Livingston plant throughout the day
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 27, 2005, 05:22:08 AM PDT
LIVINGSTON — Striking workers at the Foster Farms chicken plant kept up spirited picketing for a second day Wednesday, while the company continued to report that the walkout has not slowed production.
About 1,600 employees have stayed on the job and about 700 have walked out, said Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms. Temporary replacement workers have filled in for the strikers, he said.
Ralph Meraz, the union leader, said the strikers number roughly 1,000. He said the company's claim about full production is doubtful because replacement workers lack experience in chicken processing.
The strike, launched over complaints about pay and working conditions, remained peaceful Wednesday. Several hundred workers picketed outside the plant, briefly slowing trucks going in and out, and jeering employees who continued to work.
"All the people out here — we believe we're going to win," said striker Magdalena Valencia, an employee for 21 years who works the deboning line.
The strike at the Livingston plant — Foster Farms' largest, and the top private employer in Merced County — started at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
The strikers are demanding $1.50 an hour in wage hikes over three years. They say the typical wage long has been about $9.50 an hour. They also have complained about health insurance costs, favoritism by supervisors and other problems.
"We're fighting because we want to have a union to defend our rights," said Maricela Perez, a seven-year employee who makes rotisserie chickens. "We aren't asking for a lot of money."
Foster Farms, which contends that the hourly pay averages about $10.50, has offered 35 cents in raises over three years. The company also refuses to make union membership mandatory in any new contract.
"We have a lot of employees who believe they should be able to decide whether they want to join a union," Walsh said.
The striking workers organized last year as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley. It affiliated last month with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Walsh said Foster Farms does not recognize the larger union as the employees' representative. He also said the company has no plans to fire workers who have walked out.
"It's their plant," he said. "It's their company."
Leafletting planned at stores today
The strikers include people from several parts of the plant, including raw chicken processors and packers, makers of corn dogs and other products, and warehouse and rendering workers.
Meraz, who heads the league, said pro-strike leafletting was planned for today at Costco stores in Modesto, Turlock and Merced. The membership discount chain is a major retailer of Foster Farms products.
Labor leaders are not planning actions at other Foster Farms plants, which have separate contracts with other unions, said Pedro Mendez, a San Mateo-based business representative for the machinist and aerospace union. The family-owned company has poultry plants in Turlock, Fresno, elsewhere in the state and a few cities outside California. The large Foster Farms dairy operation isn't a target of union action.
Mendez spent much of Wednesday with a bullhorn in hand, guiding pickets back and forth across streets next to the Livingston plant entrance.
"We're going to continue doing this," he said. "We'll see who gets tired."
Company provides buses, vans
Police said the strikers were complying with a request to stand back while vehicles went through, although the streets cleared slowly at times.
Meraz said the picketing was expected to go to about 11 p.m. Wednesday, then give way to a "skeleton" crew the rest of the night and resume in earnest at daybreak.
Many of the nonstriking workers left after Wednesday's day shift in company-provided buses and vans, which took them to a Foster Farms property north of Livingston. Workers leaving this site in their own vehicles declined to comment.
Many of the pickets went through the last strike at the plant, a 1997 walkout that ended after 15 days and brought them a pay increase of just 5 cents per hour.
Valencia said she has bad memories of that strike because she said the workers were "betrayed" by the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represented them at the time.
She said the current walkout, even if it is a long one, is worthwhile because of the rising cost of housing and other necessities.
"It's not hard for us, because we believe in justice," she said.
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.