Post by DAAA Collective on Nov 18, 2005 13:19:59 GMT -5
Strikers resume walkout
Foster Farms threatens to fire some; workers may return in just two days
MARCI STENBERG/MERCED SUN-STAR
Livingston Police Chief Bill Eldridge said the strikers outside the Foster Farms plant were peaceful. It's their third walkout in the past month.
MARCI STENBERG/MERCED SUN-STAR
Foster Farms friction
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: November 18, 2005, 04:20:12 AM PST
LIVINGSTON — Foster Farms poultry plant workers on Thursday launched their third walkout in less than a month, and this time the company has threatened to fire at least some of them.
Union leader Ralph Meraz said several hundred of the plant's 2,300 employees have joined the latest action, which started at 6 a.m. He said it might last just two days, but no decision has been made.
The strikers could be fired for violating a federal law against "intermittent" strikes, but they could apply for vacant jobs in the future, said Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms.
He said the number of striking workers was less than in the two other walkouts, and the plant continues to meet its production goals with the help of replacement workers.
So far, the replacements are temporary, but Walsh said strikers could be permanently replaced if they are found to have violated the law.
"We are assessing which positions we want to start replacing first, and we will work from there," he said. He added that letters warning of the layoffs were given to employees last week.
Pedro Mendez, another labor leader, said a union attorney determined that the strikers cannot be fired. He said the union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, would sue over any firings and demand back pay and benefits.
The National Labor Relations Board looks at the details of each case before deciding whether workers can be fired for striking repeatedly, said Mike Leong, assistant regional director for the agency, earlier this month.
A 1994 board ruling said workers could lose their protection from firing if they use intermittent strikes "to harass the company into a state of confusion."
The Livingston plant had a two-week strike in 1997. It ended after Foster Farms threatened to fire the strikers.
This year's strikes happened after the two sides deadlocked on contract talks, in part over pay. Foster Farms officials, who said the average wage is about $10.50 an hour, offered 35 cents in raises over three years. Union leaders, who claim the average wage is about $9.50, are seeking $1.50 more over that time.
Foster Farms also rejected a demand that all plant employees be required to join the union. Workers organized last year as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, headed by Meraz. This group affiliated in September with the Machinists, where Mendez is a business representative and organizer.
The first walkout this year started Oct. 25 and lasted four days. The second started Nov. 3 and went for two days. All three actions have included picketing outside the Livingston plant.
"People are not down," Meraz said Thursday. "People are up. The morale is good."
Livingston Police Chief Bill Eldridge said Thursday's picketing was peaceful, as it was during the other two walkouts.
The plant is the largest operated by Foster Farms, which started near Modesto in 1939 and has become the No. 1 poultry producer in the West.
Foster Farms threatens to fire some; workers may return in just two days
MARCI STENBERG/MERCED SUN-STAR
Livingston Police Chief Bill Eldridge said the strikers outside the Foster Farms plant were peaceful. It's their third walkout in the past month.
MARCI STENBERG/MERCED SUN-STAR
Foster Farms friction
By JOHN HOLLAND
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: November 18, 2005, 04:20:12 AM PST
LIVINGSTON — Foster Farms poultry plant workers on Thursday launched their third walkout in less than a month, and this time the company has threatened to fire at least some of them.
Union leader Ralph Meraz said several hundred of the plant's 2,300 employees have joined the latest action, which started at 6 a.m. He said it might last just two days, but no decision has been made.
The strikers could be fired for violating a federal law against "intermittent" strikes, but they could apply for vacant jobs in the future, said Tim Walsh, vice president of human resources at Foster Farms.
He said the number of striking workers was less than in the two other walkouts, and the plant continues to meet its production goals with the help of replacement workers.
So far, the replacements are temporary, but Walsh said strikers could be permanently replaced if they are found to have violated the law.
"We are assessing which positions we want to start replacing first, and we will work from there," he said. He added that letters warning of the layoffs were given to employees last week.
Pedro Mendez, another labor leader, said a union attorney determined that the strikers cannot be fired. He said the union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, would sue over any firings and demand back pay and benefits.
The National Labor Relations Board looks at the details of each case before deciding whether workers can be fired for striking repeatedly, said Mike Leong, assistant regional director for the agency, earlier this month.
A 1994 board ruling said workers could lose their protection from firing if they use intermittent strikes "to harass the company into a state of confusion."
The Livingston plant had a two-week strike in 1997. It ended after Foster Farms threatened to fire the strikers.
This year's strikes happened after the two sides deadlocked on contract talks, in part over pay. Foster Farms officials, who said the average wage is about $10.50 an hour, offered 35 cents in raises over three years. Union leaders, who claim the average wage is about $9.50, are seeking $1.50 more over that time.
Foster Farms also rejected a demand that all plant employees be required to join the union. Workers organized last year as the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, headed by Meraz. This group affiliated in September with the Machinists, where Mendez is a business representative and organizer.
The first walkout this year started Oct. 25 and lasted four days. The second started Nov. 3 and went for two days. All three actions have included picketing outside the Livingston plant.
"People are not down," Meraz said Thursday. "People are up. The morale is good."
Livingston Police Chief Bill Eldridge said Thursday's picketing was peaceful, as it was during the other two walkouts.
The plant is the largest operated by Foster Farms, which started near Modesto in 1939 and has become the No. 1 poultry producer in the West.