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Eyes On Paula

Give the Gift of Smithfield Justice this Holiday Season!

As Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas fast approach, take a moment to do something this holiday season to support the men and women who have been fighting through threats, intimidation and brutal working conditions for over a decade to win a voice on the job at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, NC.

Choose from these easy ideas to contribute to Smithfield Justice:

1) Treat your family to a Smithfield-free Holiday
>>> Stay away from Smithfield pork products that are packaged with abuse: those with USDA Establishment Code 18079 or 79C correspond to the Tar Heel plant. (Click here to see where to look)

2) Encourage others to have a Smithfield-free Holiday by hand-billing in front of your neighborhood grocery store.
>>>Download flier

3) Send a holiday card encouraging Smithfield workers to keep up the fight!
>>> Cards can be mailed c/o
The Eastern North Carolina Workers Center
3450 Capuano Road
Lumberton, NC 28358

4) Donate money in any amount to the Smithfield Worker Justice Fund!
>>> The Fund is sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice and all proceeds go directly to Smithfield families in need
Contributions can be made online here.

5) Tell Paula to drop Smithfield!
>>> Celebrity chef Paula Deen has sold her good name to Smithfield Foods to help Smithfield present a wholesome, family-friendly image.
>>> Go to Ask Paula and tell Ms. Deen what you think of her support of Smithfield. Ask her to meet with the suffering workers of Tar Heel!

6) Become a Smithfield Sleuth!
>>> Follow our easy instructions to find out if your grocer carries Smithfield Tar Heel pork. If you find the problem pork, the instructions include an educational letter to your store manager.

These are just a few things you can do this holiday season to help bring peace and justice to Smithfield workers in Tar Heel, NC.

Thank you for your on-going support!
Take Action

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  • 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 President Download the flyer.

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News coverage from WAXN in Charlotte. On June 30th dozens of supporters rallied outside a Paula Deen show to demand justice for Smithfield workers.

Copirights by United Food and Commercial Workers Inaternational Union