Jan. 22, 2004 – Striking workers at Tyson Food’s beef-processing plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin will vote next week on whether to accept the company’s latest offer and end the stand-off that has brought national attention to this small, rural town.
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The plant’s 470 workers went out on strike last February, after negotiations between the union -- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 538 -- and the meat-processing giant failed.
Tyson’s original proposal called for a four-year wage freeze, an increase in health care coverage rates, a 50 percent reduction in short-term disability, a freeze in pension benefits for anyone who has worked more than 15 years at the plant, a rise in the retirement age from 62 to 65, and the elimination of severance pay.
Although negotiations resumed January 9, Tyson has made few concessions, UFCW bargaining committee members said yesterday. According to committee member Jim Weissmann, the company agreed to withdraw its proposal to increase the retirement age from 62 to 65, but has not showed willingness to negotiate other key points.
After the first new round of negotiations, union members voted 242-74 to reject the contract on Jan. 11. None of the union’s bargaining committee members recommended a "yes" vote. The two sides have not met face-to-face since, but are in contact over the phone.
Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson did not return calls for comment yesterday. In a statement published in the Milwaukee Business Journal earlier this month, the company said, "We are disappointed the striking team members at the Tyson Foods Jefferson plant, at the urging of their local leadership, have decided to reject the latest offer to end the strike. Tyson Foods will now focus its attention on the team members currently working, meeting the needs of our customers, and to operating our business going forward."
Bargaining committee members cited the rehiring process, pension plans and insurance benefits as major sticking points. According to Weissmann, Tyson proposed a rehiring based on seniority for the majority of the plant’s jobs. In addition, workers would be placed in the first available opening instead of being guaranteed their old positions. Only the janitorial staff and a few maintenance men would be immediately hired back, he said.
"The young ones, what were they voting for?" said Weissmann, commenting on the January 11 vote against the contract.
Union members will vote on another version of the contract January 29, but Weissmann said it is "not significantly different" from the version rejected January 11. "In my eyes, there ain’t enough to get it passed," he said. Fellow bargaining committee member Ron Peich also expressed skepticism about the new contract, and said he was not yet sure whether he would recommend it to the union’s members.
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If the contract dispute is not settled by the end of February, Tyson could take advantage of the decertification process outlined by the national labor relations board. After the strike reaches a year, the approximately 300 strikebreakers will be able to vote on whether they want to retain the union. Striking workers would not be allowed to vote. A vote in favor of decertification would essentially end the strike.
