First Contract Agreement at Tyson Beef Plant

Posted to the IUF website 04-Nov-2005

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After a strike of more than three weeks (background), a first contract agreement was reached between UFCW Local 401 and the Lakeside Packers subsidiary of Tyson Foods in Alberta, Canada. On Friday 4 November union members ratified the new agreement by a margin of 56% to 44%.

The agreement provides for an immediate one dollar an hour increase in the hourly rate for production workers, as well as additional increases during the 51 month life of the contract. Maintenance and technical employees received further supplements.

The large beef slaughtering plant is located in Brooks, a town of 12,000. 60% of the 2,300 workers are immigrants, the majority from the Sudan. The picketers had to overcome violence and racial insults.