Thread: Smithfield NC: After immigration arrests, hundreds skip work

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... 0770126001

After immigration arrests, hundreds skip work at hog plant
by Erin Gartner, Associated Press Writer
published January 26, 2007 5:55 am

Raleigh, N.C. – Production stalled at the world's largest hog slaughterhouse Thursday after hundreds of employees failed to show up for work, a day after immigration officials arrested 21 workers inside the plant.

Officials at Smithfield Foods Inc. said news of Wednesday's arrests spread quickly among plant employees, and most members of a cleaning crew did not come to work overnight. That forced workers who arrived in the morning to clean the massive plant, halting the morning's production.

"It was down considerably. We were so far behind because of getting started so late," Smithfield spokesman Dennis Pittman said. "There were several hundred people who didn't show up."

About 5,000 employees process up to 32,000 hogs daily at the plant in Tar Heel, a small town about 85 miles southeast of Raleigh.

The arrests and Thursday's slowdown again exposed the rift between the company and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which has been trying for more than a decade to organize the plant.

Pittman angrily blamed union organizers for Thursday's disruption, insisting they told the cleaning crew that immigration officials were waiting inside. He said the company spent most of Thursday trying to persuade Hispanic workers who stayed home to return to work, an effort that included placing advertisements on a Spanish language radio station.

"All those people lost a day's wage," Pittman said. "It's just ludicrous. The truth has absolutely no meaning to them (union organizers). Whatever lies or deception they have to go through to get their message out, they think is fine."

Eduardo Pena, a local organizer with the union, said workers came to the union seeking information about Wednesday's arrests.

"The workers were calling each other. The wife of one of the workers who was picked up started calling his co-workers saying, 'Don't go to work, immigration officials are there,"' Pena said. "I don't have that kind of network."

The workers arrested Wednesday, whose names and ages weren't released, were escorted from their jobs to an upstairs conference room, where they were interviewed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. An ICE spokeswoman said they were arrested on administrative immigration charges, which can include being in the country illegally or overstaying a work visa.

In November, the union quickly backed about 1,000 workers who staged a walkout after Smithfield fired about 50 people in a crackdown on undocumented workers.

The company had reviewed its employment records on the advice of ICE, which had raided a Smithfield plant in Virginia and arrested several undocumented workers. The company found about 500 to 600 workers at the North Carolina plant had unverifiable information.

Employees returned to work two days later after Smithfield officials agreed to give the fired workers and those with unverifiable information 60 days to get their identification documents in order.

The union also helped spark a small walkout on Martin Luther King Jr. Day after plant officials declined to designate it as a paid holiday.

Yippee!! They should be making travel arrangement back home.

Why are Americans union supporting illegals over Americans. The few illegals employed in these jobs the more Americans can go back to work. Jobs are slowing down except for the jobs that illegals are taking. American businesses are sending the other jobs overseas. Swift found American employees!

if they dont show up for work, they should be FIRED

as for the union thing, id like to know that too especially seeing as how the Smithfield plant is NOT union. They have wanted to organize, but havent finalized things yet

I have one answer about the Union question. If you guys recall.......at the time of the marches last spring the AFL-CIO openly and aggressively started trying to organize illegals to draw them into the Unions. They need to keep their dwindling membership rolls up......they need that dues ya know. I even recall reading about them providing busses and trucks to get those people to the marches.

I think part of the reason they're doing this is just the nature of the shift in the business base in this country. Union strength was traditionally centered in the manufacturing/industrial sector. Those jobs are dwindling and the Service/Technology sectors are primary business bases now. With a lot of those jobs being at a white-collar level they can't organize them. So their potential membership base dwindles in line with that. With the exception of teachers, police, nurses, and firemen of course; which they organized long ago.

I was a union member for 18 years and a local union officer for more than 10 of them. Most Union members are probably familiar with this practice. One of the things that was very important where ever possible, was the aspect of a "closed-shop" meaning if you hired in, you must join the union. Refusal to do so would result in termination. Only union members could work. Also proxy-votes of the members were highly encouraged. Meaning the union sent you a card to sign to allow them to cast your vote and also use monies to promote issues they were lobbying Washington for. Which were usually issues the Democratic Party was representing for them. Of course people just blindly signed them; believing the Union was there to represent their interests. We were always encouraged to vote for Democrats and told horror stories of what the Republicans would do that would endanger our job security.

I don't believe anything much about this has changed. Illegal immigrants can be herded like sheep to do whatever the Unions want.......because they would be made to be dependent on them. Not to defend the illegals, but they are easy marks for the Unions as well as unscrupulous employers if you know what I mean. How many proxy votes and how much dues could the Unions potentially acquire by promoting Amnesty and organizing them? 11-20 million? Lots of clout if they succeed isn't there?

Production stalled at the world's largest hog slaughterhouse Thursday after hundreds of employees failed to show up for work, a day after immigration officials arrested 21 workers inside the plant.

That's one way to identify those who are illegal. Now ICE, go back and round up the others!

I am with you Kate, round em up and move em out!!!!

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=253116

Published on Sunday, January 28, 2007



Latinos walk off the job


By Kevin Maurer
Staff writer
ADVERTISEMENT
Latino workers at Smithfield Packing Co. in Tar Heel left their jobs in droves Saturday in the wake of rumors of more arrests by immigration agents, union leaders and plant officials said.

“A good majority of Latino workers left the plant, and they also haven’t showed up for the second shift,” said Stan Chavira, a spokesman for the United Food & Commercial Workers union.

Union officials estimated about 2,000 workers left on the first shift. They did not have an estimate for second shift.

“We are talking about half the work force. The whole situation is out of control. Workers are in a terrible situation,” said Eduardo Pena, another spokesman for the union.

Pena said supervisors were telling workers to leave.

Dennis Pittman, director of corporate communication for Smithfield, said most of the workers left after lunch.

“It is just another case of people trying to scare folks,” Pittman said. “I can’t believe they continue to listen to these people cry wolf.”

The United Food & Commercial Workers has been trying to unionize workers for months.

The walkouts come after 20 men and one woman were arrested by immigration officials while they worked Wednesday. They are in the process of being deported, immigration officials said last week.

Chavira said rumors of more arrests Saturday led to the walkout.

Workers told union officials that supervisors were locking the plant doors and that immigration officials were on the way.

“There is a real panic. The workers are afraid,” Chavira said.

Pittman said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials notified Smithfield on Tuesday that agents would be coming to the plant.

“There is a real panic. The workers are afraid,” Chavira said.

Advocates still have a fear of the word illegal I see.

Originally Posted by cvangel

I have one answer about the Union question. If you guys recall.......at the time of the marches last spring the AFL-CIO openly and aggressively started trying to organize illegals to draw them into the Unions. They need to keep their dwindling membership rolls up......they need that dues ya know. I even recall reading about them providing busses and trucks to get those people to the marches.

I think part of the reason they're doing this is just the nature of the shift in the business base in this country. Union strength was traditionally centered in the manufacturing/industrial sector. Those jobs are dwindling and the Service/Technology sectors are primary business bases now. With a lot of those jobs being at a white-collar level they can't organize them. So their potential membership base dwindles in line with that. With the exception of teachers, police, nurses, and firemen of course; which they organized long ago.

I was a union member for 18 years and a local union officer for more than 10 of them. Most Union members are probably familiar with this practice. One of the things that was very important where ever possible, was the aspect of a "closed-shop" meaning if you hired in, you must join the union. Refusal to do so would result in termination. Only union members could work. Also proxy-votes of the members were highly encouraged. Meaning the union sent you a card to sign to allow them to cast your vote and also use monies to promote issues they were lobbying Washington for. Which were usually issues the Democratic Party was representing for them. Of course people just blindly signed them; believing the Union was there to represent their interests. We were always encouraged to vote for Democrats and told horror stories of what the Republicans would do that would endanger our job security.

I don't believe anything much about this has changed. Illegal immigrants can be herded like sheep to do whatever the Unions want.......because they would be made to be dependent on them. Not to defend the illegals, but they are easy marks for the Unions as well as unscrupulous employers if you know what I mean. How many proxy votes and how much dues could the Unions potentially acquire by promoting Amnesty and organizing them? 11-20 million? Lots of clout if they succeed isn't there?

I agree with a lot of what you say about unions. I've been a union member for 16 years, was raised in a union household and was hired to be a union organizer at one time.

I don't want to get too political here because that's not the "divide" on the illegal alien problem...but it was a Republican president who busted the Air Traffic Controllers' union years ago, and that was the beginning of the end. It was Republicans, for the most part, who made weaker and weaker labor laws, so the unions had less recourse...so maybe part of what the Democrats said about what Republicans would do to weaken union strength was true.

And, it cannot be denied that Americans...the average ones...are now working more for less while price of everything skyrockets... I see young people coming out of college and feeling ecstatic to make what my kids' dad made 32 years ago...with a high school diploma...in a union shop. Prices are so high now for that cheesy JUNK we buy from foreign countries, that both parents have to work.

I am not noticing any savings since all those union jobs were shipped overseas and the products we buy are becoming cheesier and cheesier, are you?

That being said, unions should be completely ashamed of themselves for representing foreign workers instead of Americans. I hate the fact that my union dues are going to pay for organizing of people who entered our country illegally and remained here illegally, lowering wages for American workers. I'm in sales and my office is unionized. At first I was grateful for that...then I found out just how worthless our union is...then I found out they're supporting foreigners in our country illegally...now I'm not grateful anymore.

Maybe if more American workers looked at a real need to organize workers again, regardless of your profession...unions wouldn't have to buy illegal aliens with OUR money...just a thought. Maybe those Americans who are NOT unionized should give the unions a call...lol What can it hurt to organize for Americans? Americans lived a lot better when WE had representation.