Posts Categorized: Poultry

Processing and butchering workers at the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance chicken processing plant in Stacyville, Iowa, recently joined UFCW Local 431 for the better wages, benefits, and job security that come with a union contract. These nine new members joined our union family via a card check election because they wanted a workplace with a fair grievance policy, holiday pay and time off, consistent raises, and increased job security.

UFCW Local 431 represents over 5,500 meatpacking and processing workers, and this is the first chicken processing plant to join the local. Some workers at Regenerative Agriculture Alliance were motivated to join the union because they had previously worked at unionized plants and knew what joining the UFCW would mean for their wages, benefits, and protections. 

“Every time we have new members in our local, it is a motivation to work hard and with this new unit, we are more than happy,” said UFCW Local 431 President Simplice Kuelo. 

UFCW Local 227 and Pilgrim’s Pride in Hickory, Ky., recently announced an agreement to provide the over 1,000 workers at the plant with a $2 per hour wage increase. The pay increase will make starting wages $16.50 per hour at the plant. The area was hit by a major outbreak of tornadoes last December.  

“We are pleased to announce that our union has reached an agreement with Pilgrim’s Pride that secures an additional $2 per hour wage increase for every member effective on January 23^rd,” said UFCW Local 227 President Bob Blair. “Our members at Pilgrim’s Pride are hard-working people. Their sacrifices and dedication during a global pandemic, and now staffing shortages, has kept America fed. It was and, in many ways, still is, a tremendous challenge and one that our people did not shy away from, not once. They have earned this wage increase and deserve our country’s gratitude for the hard and incredibly important work that they do.”

“This wage increase for over 1,000 hard-working men and women will go towards caring for their families,” Blair added. “It will be spent on things like gas and groceries, and it will benefit the local economies where they live almost immediately. More than a month after the worst tornado damage Kentucky has ever seen, putting more money into the pockets of hard-working families in western Kentucky is more important now than ever before. It will take years to rebuild, and our union family will continue to fight for better wages and benefits that should go along with hard work.”