Contact: Libby Manly, 919-491-2262
Rev. Nelson Johnson, 336-601-3722
Clergy and Civil Rights Leaders Call on Harris Teeter to Stop Selling Smithfield’s Problem Pork
Recent Smithfield walk-out over worker abuse compels religious leaders to call for justice
Thursday, Nov. 30 Press conference to announce Saturday Day of Action in 11 NC cities
WHAT: Prominent clergy from across North Carolina will call on Harris Teeter supermarkets to stop selling pork from Smithfield’s Tar Heel, NC plant until the ongoing mistreatment and abuse of workers ends. November 30 press conference in Charlotte where leaders will announce a statewide day of action on December 2nd to demonstrate broad consumer support to Harris Teeter for dropping the pork.
On Dec. 2nd, simultaneous demonstrations to take place at Harris Teeter locations in Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Hickory, High Point, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.
WHO: Religious leaders, civil and immigrant rights groups, and consumer advocates.
WHEN: Press Conference: Thursday, November 30 at 10:30 AM
Day of Action Demonstrations: Saturday, December 2, 11:00 AM - Noon
WHERE: Nov. 30 Press Conference: Harris Teeter, 1704 Central Avenue, Charlotte, NC. Harris Teeter’s historic, original supermarket location.
December 2nd Day of Action Locations:
• Asheville: Biltmore Parkway Centre, 1378 Hendersonville Rd.
• Charlotte: 1704 Central Avenue
• Durham: 1817 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway
• Fayetteville: Highland Centre, 2800 Raeford Road
• Greensboro: 4640 W. Market Street
• Hickory: Belle Hollow, 3010 N. Center Street
• High Point: High Point Mall, 265 Eastchester Drive
• Raleigh: Cameron Village, 500 Oberlin Road
• Rocky Mount: West Ridge Village, 3649 Sunset Avenue
BACKGROUND: Smithfield’s has exhibited a pattern of willful disregard for the basic rights and human dignity of its workers. The company has a 12 year history of thwarting democracy at its world’s largest pork slaughter plant in Tar Heel, NC. Found liable in Federal Court decisions for physically assaulting, intimidating, threatening and unlawfully firing employees during attempts to improve workplace conditions, Smithfield’s call for a new union election is insincere. Two reports by the internationally respected organization Human Rights Watch have documented widespread violations of basic human and labor rights. Workers cite unsafe conditions, including dangerously fast line speeds that leave many permanently disabled. According to workers, Smithfield often fires injured workers and denies their Workers’ Compensation claims.
“We are issuing a moral appeal to Harris Teeter to stop selling pork from Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant” says Rev. Nelson Johnson, co-founder of the Southern Faith, Labor and Community Alliance. “We are telling Harris Teeter we don’t want pork that’s packaged with worker abuse! As a North Carolina grocer, Harris Teeter has a special responsibility to the people of North Carolina and should not be supporting the abuse of its hardest working people.” Harris Teeter’s branded bacon comes from Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant.
The 5,500 workers at Smithfield’s Tar Heel, NC plant slaughter and disassemble 32,000 hogs per day - that’s 33 hogs per minute. To meet production goals, the processing lines move exceedingly fast. Workers are under extreme pressure to keep up, and some have reported being verbally abused, or even fired, if they fall behind.
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The Council of Churches of Greater Washington, a coalition of 75 area churches, passed a resolution condemning Smithfield Foods for creating an environment of intimidation and fear for workers and encourages its congregants to take direct action by not purchasing Smithfield products and contacting the company. Click for a copy of the resolution in html or as a pdf.
DC City Council introduces resolution condemning Smithfield Foods for creating an environment of intimidation and fear for workers and encourages all supermarkets and vendors in DC from stocking Smithfield meat products. Click for a copy of the resolution in html or as a pdf.
The August '08 issue of Business North Carolina features a cover story on the Justice@Smithfield campaign. Read the article in html or as a pdf.
New York Times columnist Adam Liptak discusses the lawsuit against Justice@Smithfield and the First Amendment. Read the column.
Fayetteville Observer: "Ruling forbids Smithfield Packing using threats"
The March '08 cover story in Labor Notes asks, "Is Fighting for Justice at Smithfield Racketeering?"
Smithifield's Tar Heel workers win a paid Martin Luther King Holiday. Read the press release.
Avram Lyon says when he sees Paula Deen on TV, "all I can think of are the people working under horrible conditions at Smithfield." Read his article in the Forward.
Breast Cancer foundation sues Smithfield Foods for trademark violation.
Read Justice@Smithifield's statement on the U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit court ruling on Smithfield.
The final quarter of Paula Deen's hour-long appearence on NPR's Diane Rehm Show Nov. 28 was dominated by questions over her association with Smithfield Foods. Listen to the show using Windows Media Viewer or Real Player.
On Thursday, November 8, 2007, activists with the Western Massachusetts Jobs With Justice organized a protest outside a brand new Big Y supermarket in Northampton. Read More.
On September 12, the Bergen County (NJ) Central Trades and Labor Council passed a resolution calling on Smithfield to "[o]bey the law, by providing a safe workplace, giving Smithfield workers the right to chose a union...free from interferene of any kind."
On August 6, Smithfield Tar Heel plant worker Jose Ozorio Figueroa was terminated. Company representatives claim it was for showing up four minutes late to his shift, but Ozorio believes that he was fired for his union activities. Read his statement.
Presidential Master Chef Talli V. Counsel asks celebrity chef Paula Deen to use her influence to end the “brutal working conditions” at Smithfield’s Tar Heel Plant. Read more.
On August 1, 2007, the City of Boston passed a resolution calling on the city to "review its purchasing of any products from the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, North Carolina....and suspend these purchases until the company ends all form of abuse, inimidation and violence against its workers..." It also encourages Boston supermarkets "to consider suspending their purchase of any Smithfield products..."
On Saturday, July 14, dozens of Nashville clergy, civil rights leaders and consumers rallied to demand that two area supermarkets to stop stocking Smithfield Foods pork products made at the company’s Tar Heel plant. Read more.
More than 100 supporters rallied in front of a Publix supermarket in Atlanta to demand that the market stop carrying pork products from Smithfield's Tar Heel plant. Read More.
More than 250 family members and supporters of Smithfield Workers delivered a Father’s Day Card to Harris Teeter’s president. Read the news coverage [With Video].
On June 4, the City of Cambridge, MA unanimously passed a resolution in support Smithfield workers in Tar Heel. Read the historic resolution.
Children of Smithfield workers will deliver a Father's Day card to Harris Teeter's PresidentDownload the flyer.
Jim Hightower: Paula Deen "has cooked up a big ol' mess of political controversy for herself." Read the story.
