WORKERS AT SMITHFIELD FOODS TAR HEEL PLANT RATIFY FIRST-EVER UNION COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE UFCW

A majority of the 5,000 Smithfield Foods Tar Heel workers ratified their first-ever union collective agreement after 5 months of negotiations. In December 2008, Tar Heel workers voted in favour of union representation with IUF affiliate UFCW and chose to join UFCW Local 1208. The agreement represents a major victory for the labour movement and comes at the end of a bitter 17-year long struggle for human rights at the world’s largest pork facility in North Carolina, USA, processing over 32,000 hogs a day. The struggle for Tar Heel worker rights featured sustained international support from IUF affiliates with membership in Smithfield subsidiaries in Europe. continue reading