Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 11/19/10

Employees of Tyson Foods Inc. in Washington state will have the chance to vote in a secret ballot on whether they wish to continue being represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) organization, according to a news release from the National Right to Work Foundation.

The anti-union organization provided free legal assistance to workers from Tyson’s Wallula facility, where Tyson processes beef. Workers had voted last year to be represented by the UFCW via a so-called card check campaign, however, only 61 of the facility’s 1,177 employees actually voted, the foundation news release said.

Some workers subsequently filed a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking a secret ballot election on their bargaining status.

The NLRB regional director in Seattle “ruled last week that the employer and union officials failed to post [required] notices informing the employees of their right to a secret ballot election,” the release said, and the secret ballot was upheld.

The next vote reportedly is to be held in early December.

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