Monthly Archives: February 2021

About 200 produce workers who are employed at Twin City Foods, Inc., a frozen vegetable processing company in Pasco, Wash., joined UFCW Local 1439 on Jan. 25 for a healthier and safer workplace. Twin City Foods workers are the first in the area to successfully win a vote for union representation.

These hard-working men and women joined our union family because they were concerned about health and safety issues that were magnified during this pandemic, including the lack of personal protective equipment, being forced to work sick and around others who were infected with the virus, no paid time off to quarantine, and the fact that some of their colleagues have lost their lives due to COVID-19.

UFCW Local 1439 began their organizing campaign at the plant last year and coordinated with another organizing campaign at a grocery store so that workers could show support for each other and share stories. The local filed for an RC election, which was conducted by mail. The ballots were returned on Dec. 18, but the company appealed the composition of the unit, resulting in the ballots being impounded until the review was completed.

“Workers have lost their lives to COVID-19, been fired for union activity, and suffered injuries at work because the company cared more about their bottom line than keeping employees safe,” said UFCW Local 1439 President Eric Renner. “We are proud of these Twin City Foods workers’ victory and their vote to join UFCW Local 1439 for workplace protections during this pandemic and beyond.”

“As a part of our efforts to help protect workers and their rights, UFCW Local 1439 is advocating for HB1285, which would require companies to comply with labor, employment, and civil rights law to be eligible to receive a preferential tax rate. Companies that are failing to follow the law should not receive hundreds of millions from the state budget,” Renner added.

“The pandemic has made it clear that if we don’t stand up for ourselves, no one else will,” said Bambidawn Santiago, who is a crew lead at Twin City Foods. “I missed two months of work when my husband, my five children and I got sick. Twin City Foods didn’t even offer to help. The company made the situation worse by telling us we couldn’t wear our own masks and leaving many workers to work without health insurance because it takes so long to qualify. I voted for the union so we can get the protections that the company has not provided and to try to make sure that my coworkers do not experience the frustrating situation I faced. I know that a union contract will help protect all of us tremendously.”

On Jan. 25, the UFCW praised action by President Joe Biden to strengthen safety measures and protections for American workers most at risk as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide. The  “Made in America” executive order, along with recent actions to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) enforcement of workplace safety and stop the push to increase poultry line speeds, was welcomed by the UFCW as a key step to support frontline food workers across the country.

Specifically, these key actions by President Biden include:

• Supporting America’s workers through federal purchasing: This “Made in America” executive order is central to President Biden’s commitment to invest in American manufacturing, including critical supply chains, and grow good-paying, union jobs. The order states that the federal government should buy from suppliers that are treating their workers with dignity and respect. President Biden remains committed to working with partners and allies to modernize international trade rules—including those related to government procurement–to make sure all countries can use their taxpayer dollars to spur investment in their own countries.
• Strengthening food worker safety through OSHA enforcement: A recent executive order states that the U.S. Department of Labor will review the enforcement efforts of OSHA related to COVID-19 and identify any short-, medium-, and long-term changes that could be made to better protect workers and ensure equity in enforcement. This includes the issuing of an emergency temporary standard and launching a national program to focus OSHA enforcement efforts related to COVID-19 on violations that put the largest number of workers at serious risk or are contrary to anti-retaliation principles.
• Protecting meatpacking workers by stopping dangerous line speed increases: In a new action by the Office of Management and Budget, President Biden has halted the effort led by the Trump Administration to increase poultry plant line speeds. This policy change is a critical step to putting worker safety ahead of industry profits as these plants continue to face elevated risks as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide. 

“Today’s executive order by President Biden makes clear that our country’s critical supply chain industries — including grocery, health care, meatpacking, and food processing — must put their frontline workers first,” said UFCW International Marc Perrone in a statement. “President Biden’s new Buy American executive order not only reflects a commitment to worker safety that had been lacking in years past, it further ensures that taxpayer dollars from federal contracts go to companies that support good-paying, union jobs.” 

“President Biden is already showing the type of commitment to the health and safety of frontline food workers that the American people expect and deserve, including actions to strengthen OSHA workplace safety enforcement and stop the dangerous push to increase poultry plant line speeds,” Perrone added. “It is now critical that members of Congress from both parties work with the White House to ensure these critical worker protections are fully implemented before this deadly and growing pandemic costs even more lives.”