CASE STUDY

CAMPAIGN TRIGGER

Two bargaining units consisting of meatpackers, dockworkers, and sanitation workers at the Mountaire Farms poultry plant in Selbyville, Delaware, contained employees looking to cast off their respective unions. One bargaining unit was under the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, a labor union representing 1.3 million workers in the grocery, food processing, and meatpacking industries. UFCW had been present at the plant for decades prior to Mountaire’s purchase of the facility. The other bargaining unit was under the Teamsters, a labor union representing 1.2 million workers across multiple industries. Many of the employees were non-English speakers.

Mountaire Farms, one of the nation’s most successful poultry processors, operates numerous poultry plants, feed mills, and hatcheries. Selbyville was the only processing plant owned by Mountaire Farms where unions were present.

The two bargaining units of UFCW Local 27 and Teamsters Local 355 were tired of paying union dues and being subject to union whims. Employees felt overlooked and excluded from union communication and adequate representation, knowing they didn’t have the same advantages as Mountaire Farms’ non-unionized plants.

Two Mountaire Farms employees stepped up to begin the process of decertifying the unions. Oscar Cruz Sosa, a production employee, filed a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and attempted to get the UFCW voted out. Martha Parada, a shipping and receiving employee, was required to be a Teamster member (as were all shipping and receiving employees). Martha wanted to eliminate the separate Teamster unit that included approximately 200 shipping and receiving employees.

ROAD TO DECERTIFICATION

Oscar and Martha, both non-English speaking employees, wanted out and went up against the powerful Teamsters and UFCW. Among the Mountaire plant’s workforce, 50% are Hispanic and 30% are Haitian. Oscar and Martha had to try to educate 800 fellow employees – many of whom speak only Spanish or Haitian Creole – and convince them to vote to decertify.

Oscar and Martha requested help from the Center for Independent Employees (CIE), a legal defense foundation that provides legal representation and aid to independent employees who are opposed to union oppression in their workplaces.

CIE responded with an unbeatable team of paralegals and attorneys, assisting Oscar and Martha with a winning strategy for the upcoming votes. They secured additional cards from employees pledging their support for the decertification campaigns. Monica Mejia, a seasoned labor relations consultant, served as paralegal team leader. All worked under the direction of two seasoned CIE labor attorneys.

Building a coalition across cultures, CIE built a leadership team of two Haitians, two Hispanics, one African American, and one Caucasian.

THE CIE DIFFERENCE

Monica and the CIE team guided the petitioners through the challenging and time-consuming decertification process. They built relationships and made personal connections with the petitioners, hundreds of Mountaire Farms employees, and the community at large.

The CIE team, along with Oscar and Martha, led grassroots initiatives and assisted petitioners in informative conversations and extensive home visits to garner petition signatures. They launched community efforts with events at churches and restaurants to further the reach of both campaigns. They ensured employees understood key information about the election and what was at stake in the vote.

Oscar, Martha, and the CIE team contacted local radio stations, created text messaging systems, and set up phone banks. When union representatives began harassing and threatening Mountaire Farms employees, the CIE team stepped in to protect them and their campaigns.

Oscar and Martha succeeded in gathering the necessary signatures to secure their respective NLRB elections. In the summer of 2020, two mail ballot elections were held. The ballots were impounded pending the outcome of a request for review by the UFCW. In the spring of 2021, the NLRB ruled that the election should not have taken place. But CIE was confident of ultimate victory. Undaunted, CIE clients Oscar and Martha got to work once again to secure the majority of employee signatures and requested that the NLRB hold another decertification election.

OUTCOME

Following numerous home visits, radio spots, and text messaging campaigns, CIE and its employee leaders reached their goal. In the first vote, the independent employees trounced UFCW, with a final vote of 356-80 (out of a unit of more than 600). The Teamsters fared even worse, losing in a final vote of 140-29, out of a unit of over 200. After nearly 45 years, the hardworking, more than 800 loyal employees of Mountaire Farms in Selbyville, Delaware, had finally won freedom from union domination – thanks to CIE.

Employees are now eligible for generous benefits, including life insurance products, long-term disability insurance, a 401(k) program, and a more robust vacation package. They are also enjoying an hourly pay raise and another pay increase of sorts: Union dues are no longer withdrawn from their paychecks.