040148 Tyson Workers at Wis. Plant Accept Deal

Jefferson, WI - Workers on strike against Tyson Foods for nearly a year accepted a contract Thursday that will save their union and their jobs, but includes many of the wage and benefit concessions that led to their walkout.

The contract was approved 293-70, said Mike Rice, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 538. He had recommended approval of the deal as the only way to keep the union in the Tyson meat processing plant in Jefferson, about 45 miles west of Milwaukee.

Under federal labor law, the replacement workers Tyson hired could have voted to decertify the union once the strikers had been out for a full year. The union, representing 470 workers, walked out Feb. 28.

Many striking workers said they reluctantly voted "yes."

"We're not getting really what we wanted, but we need to keep the union," said Bill Schmieder, 30, a Tyson worker for six years. "We're going to take our fight inside the plant."

The walkout was the first involving one of the former IBP meatpacking plants Tyson bought in a 2001 deal that moved the Arkansas poultry giant into beef and pork. Tyson is the world's largest supplier of beef, chicken and pork.

Tyson had sought a four-year wage freeze, a reduced wage scale for new workers, elimination of the profit-sharing plan, cuts in vacation, sick leave and pension, and less comprehensive health care coverage. In the contract, Tyson received concessions in all those areas.

Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson has said it wants to bring the Jefferson workers' benefits in line with those of its other employees and the wages in line with what comparable workers earn in the region.

Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson said the company was pleased that the contract was accepted. "We will begin working with the union immediately on the process of recalling strikers," he said.

Striking workers rejected an offer by Tyson on Jan. 11, but reconsidered after the company agreed to withdraw a clause that would have allowed it to terminate unionized employees who were not recalled to work within a year of the strike's end.

John Brand, 55, a five-year Tyson employee, said the strike has left some families on the verge of losing their houses.

"We got our butts kicked and a slap in the face on top of it," he said. "We're going back with something worse than what we walked out with."

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