Posts Categorized: Packing and Processing

On March 24, the UFCW teamed up with some of America’s best-known food manufacturers and longtime UFCW partners, including Cargill, ConAgra Foods, Hormel Foods, JBS USA, Pinnacle Foods, Downs Food Group and Ryder Logistics, to bring relief to families in Flint, Michigan. Together, they donated more than 60 tons of beef, pork, poultry, canned meats, ready-to-eat soups and pastas, and peanut butter to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint.

UFCW Locals 876 and 951, which represent workers in Flint and across Michigan, have been coordinating the UFCW’s ongoing effort to serve their Flint members, their families and the broader Eastern Michigan community, and Local 876 has contributed more than $14,000 to the Flint community as part of their local relief efforts. This donation was made possible by UFCW members across the country who made or contributed food or transportation to help feed Flint families in need, including members of UFCW Locals 38, 293, 540, 617, 1149, 1161 and 1996.

“The crisis imposed on Flint families is a historic failure. To do what is right for these good people we must act, and we must act together,” UFCW Local 876 President Roger Robinson said. “Today, UFCW and its employer partners have come together for this community, demonstrating our ability to unite in advocacy for the protections all families deserve; to be the voice of the worker that is too often ignored; and to provide the strength and support to navigate all workers to a better life.”

“We firmly believe that everyone has the right to enjoy safe and nutritious food,” said Jarrod Gillig, general manager of Cargill’s beef processing plant in Schuyler that produced the beef for Cargill’s donation.  “We know that protein, like ground beef, provides an array of essential nutrients to children and adults, and we believe it is important for us to provide some relief for a community in need of long-term support.”

“Our donation provides a variety of quality, protein-rich products for the people of Flint,” said Thomas L. Nuss, director of human resource operations at Hormel Foods. “We are proud to partner with the UFCW in this endeavor, and hope our effort will help those in need.”

“At JBS, we’re committed to giving back to the communities in which we live and work, and to helping when our neighbors are in need,” said Chris Gaddis, head of JBS USA human resources. “Families in Flint are experiencing extremely difficult times, and if we can help, we’re honored to offer our support to those families.”

“We are committed to helping not only our members, but the entire community effected by the Flint water crisis,” UFCW Local 951 President John Cakmakci said. “To date, we have raised over $100,000 to provide quality food and water to Flint residents. Next week, we will be hosting the first of many food and water giveaways for the nearly 500 UFCW 951 members and retirees living through this horrible situation.”

“Good, nutritious food is key to the Flint community’s recovery, and we can’t thank this incredible team enough for what they have done for Flint families and children” said Kara Ross, vice president of the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

Several major deficiencies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact (TPP) – including failure to address currency manipulation or set in place adequate labor and environmental standards – are clear evidence that passage of this pact would hurt American food processors, family farmers and ranchers, while also posing serious threats to U.S. domestic beef production and prices, according to two advisory reports submitted today to the USTR.

The minority report to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade (APAC), released last week, argues, “passage [of the TPP] will reduce American food processing jobs, labor standards and farm gate prices and result in increased imports and decreased exports of American agricultural products.” The report was submitted by Chandler Goule, National Farmers Union Senior Vice President of Programs, and Mark Lauritsen, UFCW International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division.

The authors point out that currency manipulation, which for years has caused American job losses and increased the U.S. trade deficit, is totally unaddressed by the TPP. “This deficit damages the entire economy and has impeded job growth and income gains,” they point out. “Since this is unaddressed, it could nullify the tariff reductions, harming the export potential of many American sectors including and especially beef.”

The report also notes that the TPP would fail, “to place labor and environmental standards on equal footing with economic rights and elimination of sustainability preferences.”

“Regrettably, the labor chapter reflects only incremental improvements over past agreements like NAFTA and will not offset the low labor standards currently existing in many TPP signatories,” note Goule and Lauritsen. “Driven by the attraction of low wages, the U.S. is vulnerable to loss of food processing jobs.”

A similar minority report from the Animal and Animal Products Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade (ATAC), which was also released today, notes that passage of the TPP would pose serious threats both to rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd and to domestic beef production. This is evidenced by:

• Since the passage of NAFTA, 50 plants have closed taking out 52,695 in daily kill capacity.
• On January 1, 2014, beef cow numbers fell to their lowest level since 1941.
• Total commercial cattle slaughter in 2015 will fall below 30 million for the first time since 1963, when it totaled 27.232 million. This year’s total is expected to be down 4% to 5% from 2014.
• For fed beef packers, 2015 fed steer and heifer slaughter is expected to decline about 3.5%, or 850,000, from last year.
• Nine processing plants have closed since the start of 2013, representing a slaughter capacity 3.7 million annually.
• Since 2007 cattle numbers fell by 8.843 million as of 2014. This forced Cargill in February 2013 to close its Plainview, Texas, plant costing 2,000 high paying union jobs with good benefits. Four other U.S. beef plants have since closed causing the loss of an additional 2500 high paying jobs.

Kurt Brandt, UFCW’s Assistant to the Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division was a signatory to the ATAC minority report.

“Clearly, the U.S. Trade Representative was out-negotiated in this case,” notes Brandt. “The series of NAFTA-style free trade agreement passed over the past two decades has led to increasing live cattle imports that have directly depressed U.S. cattle prices, and impeded herd rebuilding. Increasing beef imports allowed by ongoing trade deregulation suppresses U.S. beef prices, and further delays herd rebuilding.”

“The primary beneficiaries of this agreement [the TPP], i.e., global food processing companies, would be further empowered to move more of their U.S. jobs overseas,” Brandt wrote. “This means that claims of increased benefits for U.S. food and agricultural production rings hollow, because much of the increasing foreign demand for food will be met by processing plants being built in other countries – including plants built overseas by U.S.-based companies.”