Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 10/4/10

A compromise has been reached regarding which union will represent some 1,300 employees at Smithfield Foods Inc.’s main packing plant, ending an 18-month-long dispute, according to a report in the Norfolk, Va.-based Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

At issue was the question of union representation in the wake of the company’s 2009 announcement that one of two large plants in Smithfield, Va. would be closed down and about 1,300 of its workers moved to the remaining facility nearby. Food Processors Local 1046 represented employees in the facility closing down; employees at the surviving plant are represented by the Teamsters Local 822.

Smithfield wanted the transferred employees added to the Teamsters’ rolls. In March 2009, the Food Processors filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging violations of the National Labor Relations Act, on behalf of about 700 Smithfield employees whose departments were transferred essentially intact from one plant to the other. The allegations flew between the two sides for the next year-and-a-half.

Over the weekend, however, the Virginian-Pilot reported that 500 transferred workers from the department fabricating case-ready meats will revert to the Food Processors representation. The rest are affiliated with the Teamsters local.

Also, Smithfield reportedly has agreed to pay the Food Processors local $5,000 in lost dues and to pay the case-ready employees for any extra expenses they incurred for benefits, including dental and vision coverage.

Efforts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful.

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