Sudanese Workers' Strike in Canada

Tyson Foods Forces Workers into Streets Again

Approximately 2,300 workers were forced on strike by Tyson Foods at the company’s Lakeside Packers plant in Brooks, Alberta, on Wednesday, October 12. These workers, many of them refugees from Sudan and Somalia and immigrants from Nigeria, have been attacked on the picket line and subjected to racist jeers. Three were sent to the hospital after being beaten and left writhing in a ditch beside the road. Tyson officials have been charged for reckless endangerment after running the UFCW Local 401 president’s car off the road.

Below provides a brief run down of information and events that have transpired at Tyson’s Lakeside Packers plant.

Black workers make up approximately 70 percent of the workforce. A quarter of the entire workforce is refugees from Sudan; other workers come from Somalia and Nigeria.
Workers are seeking basic protection such as an end to harassment, improved safety training, and better handling of biological hazards
“I begged to use the washroom and my boss said “No”, so I ended up wetting myself and standing in my own urine for the rest of the work shift. Later I was disciplined for filing a complaint about what happened.” - Godwin Iwanegba, Lakeside Packers employee
Reverend Jesse Jackson calls on Tyson Foods to seek a just settlement with workers at its plant, Lakeside Packers. In a statement, released October 18, Jackson says, “I urge Tyson to immediately end the violence in Brooks and return to the negotiating table in the spirit of justice, seeking a settlement that provides for worker safety and just compensation. I urge Tyson to reconsider the collective bargaining agreement crafted by an impartial third party under Canadian law that the workers have already accepted.
Tyson’s brutal attacks on the picket lines fuel solidarity across the continent. Members of UFCW local unions across the continent are rallying to support their striking brothers and sisters in Alberta, Canada. As a first step, the local unions plan to raise money and to sponsor striking families.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Summer 2004

Workers receive union certification with UFCW Local 401 in Alberta, Canada, in the late summer, and have been fighting for their first contract ever since.

June 2005

In an overwhelming endorsement of their union’s bargaining position, workers give a 70 percent strike mandate. “Hopefully, this will serve as a wakeup call to Tyson Foods” says UFCW Local 401 President Doug O’Halloran. “We look forward to a more positive approach on the part of the employer in collective bargaining. But if there isn’t, the possibility of a strike is a very real one.”
July 15, 2005

The union announces a strike will commence on July 20th at 5 a.m. unless the company negotiates a fair collective agreement with its workers. Local 401 offered binding arbitration to the employer to avert a strike. *Under Alberta Labor Law in Canada, the union must give 72 hours notice of a strike. *Also under Alberta Labor Law, if the union and the company agree to an impartial mediator, the mediator’s contract proposal is not binding.
July 19, 2005

Tyson rejects the union’s suggestion that the strike be avoided by submitting all outstanding issues to a well-known Alberta mediator.
July 20, 2005

While many workers show up at picket lines in front of Lakeside Packers, they can not strike because of a last minute intervention by the provincial government. The government set the dispute to a Dispute Inquiries Board, which removes the union workers’ right to strike for 60 days. Workers can only continue to bargain with the company in good faith.
September 26, 2005

Workers overwhelmingly vote 90 percent to accept a Disputes Inquiry Board recommended collective agreement. The contract proposal includes the basics of ensuring a voice for workers, but is still a modest first agreement and compromise for workers. Tyson must agree to it the mediator’s proposal.
October 12, 2005

More than 2,300 workers at the cattle slaughterhouse and processing plant are forced to strike after Tyson throws out the mediator’s proposal.
October 13, 2005

Provincial law enforcement officers stand as replacement workers and management verbally and physically assault Sudanese workers with racially-motivated jeers and anti-immigrant insults. Several strikers are reportedly beaten with metal pipes, left injured in a ditch before being transported to the hospital.
October 14, 2005

Local 401 President Doug O’Halloran is hospitalized after Tyson officials run his car off the road and force a three-car collision. Two Tyson senior officials and two other employees are charged with reckless endangerment.

We will keep you updated on this situation. The workers at the Tyson plant hope they can count on you if they need your assistance.

www.terribletyson.com

www.ufcw.org and www.ufcw.ca