040414 Union Accuses Tyson of Unfair Labor Practices

The union representing Tyson Fresh Meats beef plant workers in Wallula has accused the company of improperly coercing workers to vote Thursday and Friday against keeping their union.

A Tyson spokesman denied the charges, saying company management and supervisors have acted legally to educate workers on the benefits of a "union-free" workplace.

On Tuesday, Teamsters union Local 556 filed an unfair labor practice charge accusing Tyson management of interrogating workers about their voting plans, offering workers promotions or raises to oppose the union, changing shifts and reducing work hours to prevent workers from meeting each other and other charges.

"Workers are tired of it," said Maria Martinez, Local 556 secretary-treasurer, of the alleged labor law violations.

She said company supervisors and management have put "vote no union" stickers on workers' hard hats without asking permission, pressured workers to write anti-union statements and spent an unusual amount of time lecturing workers on why they should vote against the union.

The charge was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, which will oversee the decertification election at the Wallula plant this week. Last year, plant employee Carlos Perez gathered signatures of more than 30% of the plant's work force to authorize the election.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said company officals have simply been educating workers about what he called the "equal or better wages, benefits, retirement, job security and advancement opportunities" at the company's nonunion facilities.

"This appears to be an act of desperation by union leaders, who are apparently worried about losing this week's vote," Mickelson wrote in an e-mail. "Their claims of improper activity by the company are simply not true.

"We've had meetings with workers, posted information on bulletin boards, distributed flyers and sent mailings to their homes." He said all are legal actions.

The vote on whether or not to keep the union comes less than two months before negotiations are to begin over a new union contract to replace the current five-year contract, which expires May 30.

Martinez said the union has helped workers secure wage increases, affordable health benefits and workplace rules on bidding for jobs and resolving disputes over disciplinary actions and firings.

Mickelson countered by pointing out that top-paid workers at Tyson's nonunion plant in Emporia, Kan., earn $12.74 an hour, compared with Pasco's top pay of $11.50 an hour. Union workers also pay from $240 to $372 per year in union dues, he said.

One Tyson flier promised the company will not cut wages or its guarantee of 32 hours of paid work per week if the union is voted out. Mickelson said Tyson won't change or reduce medical benefits if the union is voted out and won't increase workers' medical benefits cost for at least 12 months.

He also noted that Local 556 led a monthlong strike in 1999, which cost workers about $1,600 in lost wages. A recent company flier noted that striking workers at other Tyson plants have been permanently replaced.

Martinez called that kind of statement a scare tactic. Local 556 has prepared for upcoming contract negotiations for the past year, and any decision on a contract or on a strike will be voted on by all union members, she said.

"We're a strong, democratic union," she said. "We want a contract."

The union also has led several lawsuits against Tyson, including one upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals awarding workers up to $7.3 million for time spent putting on and taking off safety gear.

Tyson has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but if the high court refuses to take the case, workers could begin receiving the back wages this summer, said David Mark, an attorney representing the union.

Now the union is pursuing another class-action lawsuit involving more workers, which could lead to Tyson being ordered to pay millions of dollars more in unpaid wages, Mark said.

Wallula plant slaughter worker Noe Martinez pointed to those lawsuits as proof that Tyson's anti-union stance was not in workers' best interests.

"If they care so much about the workers, why do they file so many appeals in court?" Martinez, 30, asked in Spanish through a translator. "The workers are the ones who are going to get the money."

Martinez, who is not related to Local 556 Secretary-Treasurer Martinez, said he worked in a nonunion Tyson slaughterhouse in Boise, where work conditions were worse than they are in Wallula, and where supervisors often refused to listen to worker complaints.

"The company says it doesn't gain anything or lose anything with the union," he said. "So why are they so interested in getting rid of the union?"

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