Post by crudo on Oct 28, 2005 23:03:09 GMT -5
Foster Farms strike on hold
Workers are headed back to jobs but say they may walk out again next week
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By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 28, 2005, 04:09:36 AM PDT
LIVINGSTON — Striking workers at the Foster Farms chicken plant will return to their jobs early next week but might walk out again within days, a union leader said Thursday.
Ralph Meraz, head of the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, said picketing at the plant will end Saturday morning and strikers will go back to work starting with the night shift at 11 p.m. Sunday.
The workers could strike again as early as Wednesday if Foster Farms does not agree to return to contract negotiations, Meraz said.
Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms, said the workers are welcome back. But he said the company will not negotiate until labor leaders drop their demand that all workers be required to join the union.
The strike started Tuesday, five months after the two sides deadlocked over pay raises and other issues. The plant is the largest operated by Foster Farms, a Modesto-born company that has become the top poultry producer in the West.
Foster Farms reported that about 700 employees walked out while about 1,600 kept working, with no effect on the plant's output thanks to replacement workers.
Meraz said the number of strikers has fluctuated from about 840 to 1,100, as some strikers went back and some nonstriking workers joined the walkout. He said the strike slowed the plant's output, contrary to the company's claim.
"I believe that we accomplished what we wanted to," Meraz said. "This was just to get the company's attention, and we have done that."
Costco push to continue
Pro-union leafletting will continue at Costco stores, a major retailer of Foster Farms products, he said.
A man working in the plant this week, who asked not to be identified, also disputed Foster Farms' claim that production has not slowed. A statement from the company, however, said that "plant operations continue with little or no interruption. The company has welcomed employees back to work at each shift and is pleased with the plant's current operations."
Walsh said some of the strikers returned to work on their own Thursday, bringing the regular work force up to about 80 percent, compared with 70 percent Wednesday.
"I would disagree with the idea that (the strike) represents the feelings of the majority of the employees because the majority of the employees are in the plant working," he said.
Walsh said the company will assure that no one is harassed as striking and nonstriking employees resume working together. He said employees have a legal right to walk out again, and if they do, the company is prepared to operate without them during the strike.
The strikers said typical pay is about $9.50 an hour and are seeking $1.50 in raises over three years. Foster Farms put the average wage at about $10.50 and has offered 35 cents in raises over the same period.
The league is affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which sent staffers to Livingston to help coordinate the strike. Foster Farms does not recognize the larger union as the employees' representative.
The pickets have been loud but orderly as they jeered nonstriking workers and briefly delayed trucks going in and out of the plant.
"We're continuing our struggle," Meraz said, "and we're continuing to use every legal means to get the company to come back to the table."
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.
Workers are headed back to jobs but say they may walk out again next week
Click Me!
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 28, 2005, 04:09:36 AM PDT
LIVINGSTON — Striking workers at the Foster Farms chicken plant will return to their jobs early next week but might walk out again within days, a union leader said Thursday.
Ralph Meraz, head of the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, said picketing at the plant will end Saturday morning and strikers will go back to work starting with the night shift at 11 p.m. Sunday.
The workers could strike again as early as Wednesday if Foster Farms does not agree to return to contract negotiations, Meraz said.
Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms, said the workers are welcome back. But he said the company will not negotiate until labor leaders drop their demand that all workers be required to join the union.
The strike started Tuesday, five months after the two sides deadlocked over pay raises and other issues. The plant is the largest operated by Foster Farms, a Modesto-born company that has become the top poultry producer in the West.
Foster Farms reported that about 700 employees walked out while about 1,600 kept working, with no effect on the plant's output thanks to replacement workers.
Meraz said the number of strikers has fluctuated from about 840 to 1,100, as some strikers went back and some nonstriking workers joined the walkout. He said the strike slowed the plant's output, contrary to the company's claim.
"I believe that we accomplished what we wanted to," Meraz said. "This was just to get the company's attention, and we have done that."
Costco push to continue
Pro-union leafletting will continue at Costco stores, a major retailer of Foster Farms products, he said.
A man working in the plant this week, who asked not to be identified, also disputed Foster Farms' claim that production has not slowed. A statement from the company, however, said that "plant operations continue with little or no interruption. The company has welcomed employees back to work at each shift and is pleased with the plant's current operations."
Walsh said some of the strikers returned to work on their own Thursday, bringing the regular work force up to about 80 percent, compared with 70 percent Wednesday.
"I would disagree with the idea that (the strike) represents the feelings of the majority of the employees because the majority of the employees are in the plant working," he said.
Walsh said the company will assure that no one is harassed as striking and nonstriking employees resume working together. He said employees have a legal right to walk out again, and if they do, the company is prepared to operate without them during the strike.
The strikers said typical pay is about $9.50 an hour and are seeking $1.50 in raises over three years. Foster Farms put the average wage at about $10.50 and has offered 35 cents in raises over the same period.
The league is affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which sent staffers to Livingston to help coordinate the strike. Foster Farms does not recognize the larger union as the employees' representative.
The pickets have been loud but orderly as they jeered nonstriking workers and briefly delayed trucks going in and out of the plant.
"We're continuing our struggle," Meraz said, "and we're continuing to use every legal means to get the company to come back to the table."
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.