Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 8/19/09

Smithfield Foods Inc. and Food Processors Local 1046 plan to hold further discussions this month to try to resolve their differences, although the company is moving ahead with plans to close the plant whose workers are represented by the union, according to a report in the Daily Press of Newport News, Va.

The Food Processors local represents Smithfield employees at the company's South plant in Smithfield, Va. As part of an overall consolidation plan, the company is moving those workers to its nearby North plant, where the employees are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Some employees already have been transferred.

The Food Processors' union wants Smithfield to continue to recognize it even after its employees have been transferred, the Daily Press said.

The Food Processors' contract expired at the end of June, the newspaper reported, but the remaining employees continue to work under its provisions while the company and the union try to reach agreement.

Talks between the two parties broke down earlier this summer. The union filed grievances with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of unfair labor practices. The NLRB has not yet ruled on the complaints, but a representative told the newspaper that its decision is due by the end of August. 

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.