Contact: Leila McDowell 202-728-1829
Eric Wingerter 202-223-3111 ext 1403
LARRY KING ASKS CELEB CHEF PAULA DEEN IF SHE’LL MEET ABUSED SMITHFIELD WORKERS
Protesters in Chef’s hats will ask Paula to keep her promise to Larry, attempt to directly deliver large blown up hearts, sing Paula Deen themed songs, hold pigs on sticks in a Paula, Have a Heart campaign
Saturday, November 3 10:00am – Noon Washington Convention Center L St. between 7th and 9th ST NW
Paula Deen’s controversial support of the company Smithfield continues to draw renewed protests as she travels around the country. Following her promise on Larry King Live in August to meet with Smithfield workers from its Tar Heel, North Carolina plant, the world’s largest pork processing facility, people have been waiting to see if she would honor that commitment. King offered to hold the meeting on his show. After several months of her refusal to meet, the growing coalition of faith, civil rights, consumer, and disaffected fans are rekindling attempts to reach her directly at various appearances. Culinary blogs have also picked up the campaign and the nation’s only African American presidential master chef, Chef Talli, wrote a letter asking Deen to reconsider her endorsement. Smithfield workers have received support from presidential candidate Senator John Edwards, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton and Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Deen is appearing at the Convention Center Saturday as part of the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show.
The workers are so disappointed”, said Reverend Grayland Hagler Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in Washington DC and head of a coalition of 600 churches nationwide. “They thought that Paula’s own difficulties as a young woman would inspire her to open her heart and listen to their stories.”
The abuse of workers at Smithfield’s Tar Heel plant, which employs over 5,000 workers and processes 32,000 hogs daily, has been well documented in two Human Rights Watch reports. Various legal rulings found that the company assaulted, threatened, intimidated and used racial epithets against its workers.
Several injured employees and their supporters have followed Deen to various venues asking that she accept a letter from the workers and listen to their stories. Over a decade ago, Kathie Lee Gifford was similarly approached over sweatshops involved in the manufacturing of her line of clothes causing her to eventually change suppliers.
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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.
