Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 10/6/09 

In the company's answer to charges of unfair labor practices by the National Labor Relations Board, Smithfield Foods Inc. indicates that, among other defenses, it is not liable for the alleged actions against Food Processors Local 1046 because, "upon information and belief, the Charging Party is defunct," according to documents obtained from the NLRB.

At issue is Smithfield's program of transferring several hundred employees from its South Plant in Smithfield, Va., to the nearby North Plant. Smithfield has negotiated with the Teamsters, who represent the North Plant employees, to grant transferring workers, who have been represented by the Food Processors, full seniority. The move would effectively put the Food Processors local out of business; that local has been fighting to continue representing transferred workers itself.

In September, the NLRB filed several charges against Smithfield based on its investigation of the matter. 

In its official answer, which was filed September 10, Smithfield admits to some charges, denies others, but also raises 10 separate defenses, among them that the complaint is barred by earlier NLRB case law, that the complaint is barred by contract, that the company's actions were "privileged as an exercise of its core entrepreneurial freedom," that the Food Processors local is "defunct" and that the local's "bad faith excuses any duty on the part of respondent to bargain."

Nevertheless, the two parties continue to hold discussions in hopes of resolving the matter before the hearing, which is set for December 7, according to a report in the Newport News, Va., Daily Press.

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