WEAC Leaders Show Support for Tyson Workers

WEAC Vice President Terry Meyer (left) and WEAC Board member Glenn Schmidt of Sun Prairie participate in a rally for striking Tyson Foods workers in Jefferson.

Union members from throughout the state and country joined in solidarity Saturday (April 26, 2003) with striking Tyson Foods workers in Jefferson.

They came from Omaha, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Palmyra. There were postal workers, auto workers, machinists, AFL-CIO members, labor council leaders, WEAC members, and of course, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) members.

On February 28, 2003, 740 workers from the UFCW local 538 went on strike in an effort to force Tyson back to the bargaining table with a dignified and respectful offer.

Since then, union members from throughout the country have lent their support to the workers' cause. The WEAC Board of Directors voted to contribute $5,000 to 538's strike fund at its April meeting.

At Saturday's rally, Wisconsin AFL-CIO President David Newby called out again and again for "solidarity," with the crowd shouting "solidarity" back to him each time.

Jim Cavanaugh, president of the South Central Federation of Labor, told the striking workers, "We need to know who's hurting. We can take care of those people and make sure they get help so they don't get so desperate they cross the line and go back to work."

The crowd cheered when WEAC Vice President Terry Meyer told them, "I am here today representing more than 92,000 education workers across Wisconsin who stand in solidarity with you. We will be with you until you win this strike. Keep your courage, keep your heads and know we support you all the way."

What Tyson Foods wants the workers to swallow:

• A cut in starting pay.
• A four-year pay freeze for current workers.
• Increased health care premiums and deductibles that would take up to $4,600 a year out of families' pockets.
• Eliminating a health care supplement for retirees.

"These kinds of offers are familiar to every WEAC member," said Jim Deck, WEAC Board member from Capital Area UniServ North. "There is an assault on organized labor in both the private and public sectors. If it is not confronted in places like Jefferson with local 538 (on strike) or in Oshkosh (imposed QEO), or Williams Bay (imposed QEO), or Cadott (imposed QEO), anti-union forces will win. And if they win, we lose. This is not just local 538's fight; it belongs to all of us."

The strikers' morale is high. After more than 60 days on strike, not a single member has crossed the picket line to return to work. "But those brave families striking Tyson Foods won't last without our help," Meyer said in making an appeal to WEAC members.

"Encourage your local or building to adopt a striking family (www.TysonFamiliesStandUp.org), drive over to Jefferson and join a picket line, donate food to their strike pantry or send them a donation of your own. The people we help now will remember when we need help from them," Meyer said.

Posted April 29, 2003