Witness: Justice at Smithfield
Church and community groups are supporting the efforts of workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) to end abuses at the world's largest hog processing plant, in Tar Heel, NC.
UPDATE:
Join Smithfield workers, denominational leaders from across the state and country, civil rights, labor, and community organizations in protesting Smithfield Foods’ Shareholders Meeting, which will take place in Williamsburg, VA on Wednesday, August 29 th.
Smithfield Foods operates the largest pork processing facility in the world and is on record as systematically abusing its workforce with threats, intimidation and violence; routinely firing injured workers; and denying legitimate workers compensation claims. Despite an injury rate that has skyrocketed by 200% in the period from 2003-2006, Smithfield is currently attempting to expand production by 12% at the plant, meaning workers may be forced to slaughter 39,000 hogs a day or some 9.5 million hogs per year.
Support the 5,500 workers at Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant who face daily mistreatment on the job. Send a strong message to Smithfield Foods’ decision-makers that we don’t want our pork packaged with worker abuse!
The Justice @ Smithfield Campaign will be providing buses from Charlotte, Greensboro, the Triangle, and the Lumberton-Fayetteville area. Buses will leave early on Aug. 29 th and will return the same evening. There is no cost for participating and your presence could mean the gift of justice to thousands of suffering Smithfield workers. To reserve your seat on a bus, please contact Libby Manly at emanly@ufcw.org or 919-491-2262.
Inside the Tar Heel, NC, Smithfield Hog Plant—Tour Description
See Rebuttal of Smithfield's Corporate Presentation to Community and Religious Groups
See resolution for your congregation or group to sign and send to the NC Council of Churches.
Sample letter that you can send to Smithfield Packing
Letter from NC Council of Churches to CEO of Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Article from New York Times: "At a Slaughterhouse, Some Things Never Die"
Executive Summary of "Blood, Sweat, and Fear" report: http://hrw.org/reports/2005/usa0105/summary_eng.pdf
Smithfiled Packing, Intimidation, and the Company Police (Summary)
Read Packaged With Abuse: A Report on Health and Safety at Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, NC
For a Living Wage in North Carolina and in Congress. The Council has a long-standing commitment to fair wages and working conditions. See the following links for information on how to help raise the minimum wage in our state and nationally.
The Living Income Standard is a bare-bones budget indicating how much average families in North Carolina must have to meet their basic needs. It covers seven basic items: housing and utilities; food; health care; transportation; miscellaneous expenses like clothing and cleaning products; and taxes. It does not include: money to be put away for savings; consumer loans like car or lending company or mortgage loans; meals out, entertainment, birthday presents, videos, etc. Therefore, the Living Income Standard is still a very conservative, low indicator of actual cost for a frugal standard of living.
TO FIND THE LIVING INCOME STANDARD FOR YOUR NC COUNTY, CHECK THIS LINK FROM THE NC JUSTICE CENTER: http://www.ncjustice.org/publications/lis.php?year=2003&county=Urban&submit=Search
Council's Policy Statement on A Living Wage
How the Poverty Level is Different From the Living Income Standard
Handout flyer, Fill the Misery Gap, http://www.ncjustice.org/publications/lis.php?year=2003&county=Urban&submit=Search
Wal-Mart Watch:
Fact sheets:
Wal-Mart and Workers
Wal-Mart and Local Economies
Wal-Mart and Women
Wal-Mart and International Worker Rights
Wal-Mart and Health Care
See also an Allied Organization Commitment Form you can sign to be part of the campaign to bring Wal-Mart to fair practices.
UE #150, NC Public Workers Union
The lowest paid NC state workers--those who do maintenance at universities, serve in mental hospitals, etc., have a Workers Fairness Campaign for fair wages and working conditions.
http://www.ue150.org/
Fact Sheet on IWJC Public Hearings (pdf file)
News Articles from the IWJC (pdf file)
Fact Sheet on IWJC (pdf file)
IWJC Bulletin (pdf file)
North Carolina and Virginia are the only states to refuse government workers the right to collectively bargain, and this stands in violation of international human rights standards.Housing Carolina campaign. We support the efforts of the NC Housing Coalition in seeking affordable housing in our state.
http://www.nchousing.org
