Post by crudo on Oct 30, 2005 21:19:46 GMT -5
Union in fight on two fronts
Strikers need to win against Foster Farms, replacement workers
LIVINGSTON — Striking employees let loose with jeers every time a nonstriking worker approached the Foster Farms chicken plant last week.
It happened hundreds of times a day, and seemed to energize the people who had walked out.
But those same numbers point to a difficult reality for the labor movement: A strike can be tough to pull off when it involves relatively low-skilled jobs in a region with a ready supply of replacement workers.
"There are a lot of extra workers to do processing," said Michael Ballot, a labor expert and retired business professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. "It's very, very hard to win that type of strike."
The Foster Farms strikers, who walked out Tuesday, plan to return to their jobs Monday. They have threatened to strike again as early as Wednesday if Foster Farms does not return to negotiations.
The union leaders said last week's walkout showed that they can slow production at the plant, the company's largest.
Foster Farms officials said the output was unabated, thanks to a majority of workers staying on the job and the use of temporary replacements for the strikers. They said most of the 2,300 permanent workers do not want to be forced to join the union, a key issue in the deadlocked contract talks, along with raises.
Union looking for leverage
Sustaining a strike is hard when a large number of workers cross the picket line, said Steven Pitts, a labor policy specialist at the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center.
He said the outcome also can depend on whether the strikers have support from the broader labor movement. The grocery strikers in Southern California two years ago struggled, in part, because a regional union tried to take on national chains, he said.
"As companies move from local to national, you can do an incredibly good job locally, but the firm you're dealing with is much larger," Pitts said.
The Livingston workers looked for leverage against Foster Farms, which started on a farm near Modesto in 1939 and has become the top poultry producer in the West.
They had organized first as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, with about 1,000 members. Last month, the group affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, with 730,000 members across the nation.
"What it means is if the company wants to take down the league, now they have to take down the Machinists," said Pedro Mendez, a business representative for the larger union, during last week's picketing.
The strikers organized the distribution of leaflets at Costco stores in the area in a bid to cut sales of Foster Farms products. The strike, however, did not spur widespread activity by other unions.
Little gained from recent strikes
"I think individuals do respect other union members and try to honor their requests," said Megan Gowans, president of the Modesto Teachers Association. "It's just not done as an organization generally."
Strikes have become less common across the nation as union membership has dropped, from 30 percent of the labor force in the 1960s to 12.5 percent today.
A few food processors in the Northern San Joaquin Valley have had strikes in the past two decades, often ending with little gain for workers. Some examples:
In 1997, employees walked out of the Foster Farms plant in Livingston for 15 days, then accepted a tiny pay raise when they were threatened with firing.
In 1994, Teamsters went on strike at the Gangi Bros. Tomato Packing Co. in Riverbank. The company replaced them, and workers at the plant eventually voted out the union.
In 1991, Teamsters walked out at the Diamond Walnut Growers plant in Stockton. The strike, believed to be the longest in U.S. history, lasted until early this year. Some strikers reclaimed their jobs, but others had found new work, retired or died before the new contract was signed.
Ballot, the UOP labor expert, said strikes tend to succeed when the employees are highly skilled, such as teachers. He also said public-sector employers are less likely than those in the private sector to replace strikers permanently.
Strike could be a tactic
Ballot said union leaders should make sure their members are not heavily in debt before calling a strike. He said the average pay at Foster Farms is not "absurdly low" at about $9.50 or $10.50 an hour — the two sides differ on the amount — but employees could owe a lot of money and thus hesitate to walk out.
The Foster Farms strike could be just a temporary tactic on the union's part, Ballot said.
"It could be that the Machinists are just pushing to show the company that they have the power to take the workers out and to curtail production," he said.
Modesto's several thousand cannery workers have not had a strike since the 1970s, said John Hailstone, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 748. He said health insurance costs are a concern, but the current contracts overall are acceptable.
Hailstone agreed that striking is a tough thing to do in a region brimming with replacement workers, but sometimes employees feel a need to act.
"You get put in a box," he said. "Sometimes you don't have a choice and you have to do something."
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.
Strikers need to win against Foster Farms, replacement workers
LIVINGSTON — Striking employees let loose with jeers every time a nonstriking worker approached the Foster Farms chicken plant last week.
It happened hundreds of times a day, and seemed to energize the people who had walked out.
But those same numbers point to a difficult reality for the labor movement: A strike can be tough to pull off when it involves relatively low-skilled jobs in a region with a ready supply of replacement workers.
"There are a lot of extra workers to do processing," said Michael Ballot, a labor expert and retired business professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. "It's very, very hard to win that type of strike."
The Foster Farms strikers, who walked out Tuesday, plan to return to their jobs Monday. They have threatened to strike again as early as Wednesday if Foster Farms does not return to negotiations.
The union leaders said last week's walkout showed that they can slow production at the plant, the company's largest.
Foster Farms officials said the output was unabated, thanks to a majority of workers staying on the job and the use of temporary replacements for the strikers. They said most of the 2,300 permanent workers do not want to be forced to join the union, a key issue in the deadlocked contract talks, along with raises.
Union looking for leverage
Sustaining a strike is hard when a large number of workers cross the picket line, said Steven Pitts, a labor policy specialist at the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center.
He said the outcome also can depend on whether the strikers have support from the broader labor movement. The grocery strikers in Southern California two years ago struggled, in part, because a regional union tried to take on national chains, he said.
"As companies move from local to national, you can do an incredibly good job locally, but the firm you're dealing with is much larger," Pitts said.
The Livingston workers looked for leverage against Foster Farms, which started on a farm near Modesto in 1939 and has become the top poultry producer in the West.
They had organized first as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, with about 1,000 members. Last month, the group affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, with 730,000 members across the nation.
"What it means is if the company wants to take down the league, now they have to take down the Machinists," said Pedro Mendez, a business representative for the larger union, during last week's picketing.
The strikers organized the distribution of leaflets at Costco stores in the area in a bid to cut sales of Foster Farms products. The strike, however, did not spur widespread activity by other unions.
Little gained from recent strikes
"I think individuals do respect other union members and try to honor their requests," said Megan Gowans, president of the Modesto Teachers Association. "It's just not done as an organization generally."
Strikes have become less common across the nation as union membership has dropped, from 30 percent of the labor force in the 1960s to 12.5 percent today.
A few food processors in the Northern San Joaquin Valley have had strikes in the past two decades, often ending with little gain for workers. Some examples:
In 1997, employees walked out of the Foster Farms plant in Livingston for 15 days, then accepted a tiny pay raise when they were threatened with firing.
In 1994, Teamsters went on strike at the Gangi Bros. Tomato Packing Co. in Riverbank. The company replaced them, and workers at the plant eventually voted out the union.
In 1991, Teamsters walked out at the Diamond Walnut Growers plant in Stockton. The strike, believed to be the longest in U.S. history, lasted until early this year. Some strikers reclaimed their jobs, but others had found new work, retired or died before the new contract was signed.
Ballot, the UOP labor expert, said strikes tend to succeed when the employees are highly skilled, such as teachers. He also said public-sector employers are less likely than those in the private sector to replace strikers permanently.
Strike could be a tactic
Ballot said union leaders should make sure their members are not heavily in debt before calling a strike. He said the average pay at Foster Farms is not "absurdly low" at about $9.50 or $10.50 an hour — the two sides differ on the amount — but employees could owe a lot of money and thus hesitate to walk out.
The Foster Farms strike could be just a temporary tactic on the union's part, Ballot said.
"It could be that the Machinists are just pushing to show the company that they have the power to take the workers out and to curtail production," he said.
Modesto's several thousand cannery workers have not had a strike since the 1970s, said John Hailstone, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 748. He said health insurance costs are a concern, but the current contracts overall are acceptable.
Hailstone agreed that striking is a tough thing to do in a region brimming with replacement workers, but sometimes employees feel a need to act.
"You get put in a box," he said. "Sometimes you don't have a choice and you have to do something."
Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at 578-2385 or jholland@modbee.com.