UNITED STATES-MEAT WORKERS GET NO COMPENSATION.
Workers soon to be let go from Farmland Foods have learned there will be no severance money to go with them.
Smithfield Farms Inc. announced in February it was closing the New Riegel plant April 17, along with five other plants around the country in a reorganization effort.
"We have over 200 members there," said Jeff Stephens, executive director of the Northwest District of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 75.
"The place has been around for many years, even though it has changed names and hands. Some of them have been there for more than 30 years. They came to us two months ago and told us they were going to close the facility as well as four or five other plants owned by Smithfield."
Stephens said employees were told they had been doing a good job, and the decision to close the plant and consolidate operations had nothing to do with their performance.
In regard to the issue of severance, he said Smithfield officials said one of the purposes of the WARN notice was to negotiate the severance with the union.
"They led everyone to believe that they would do the right thing," Stephens said. "The workers need the severance to tide them over while they are looking for something else."
Union negotiators met with Smithfield officials for two days several weeks ago, Stephens said.
"They would do a little bit extending insurance benefits, but no severance," he said.
Talks have continued with several top officials at Smithfield, he said, yet there has been no movement to offer severance to the Farmland Foods employees.
"These loyal employees deserve something," Stephens said. "They (Smithfield) said that was what unemployment is for, but that doesn’t cover the cost of COBRA, their extended health insurance."
Some contracts that are negotiated by UFCW Local 75 do include severance for the employees, and it was bargained for Farmland in the past.
"We did propose it several times, at previous bargaining sessions," he said. "But they didn’t agree, they always told us that the WARN notice, that the purpose of the WARN notice was to bargain our severance." Added to that was the knowledge that in the past, Smithfield has responded well offering severance packages for all employees during a previous plant closing in Carroll, Iowa.
"They received a week’s pay for each year of service, and a bonus for extended health and welfare," Stephens said.
At this point, he said they are not really bargaining with Smithfield, they are begging. They are also considering passing information to the public, hoping to influence Smithfield to reconsider their position.
"We’ll ask them to contact Smithfield and ask them to do the right thing," Stephens said. "We may take out ads in newspapers, or do hand billing in the grocery stores."
"They agree that they are making money," he added. "They just won’t pay a severance package. It’s really a slap in the face to the people who made their livelihood there for better than 30 years."
Calls over the last two days to the negotiators and legal counsel for Smithfield seeking comment were not returned.
