Labor: Trouble at Tyson
Tyson Foods sued under RICO statute
Corporate Governance News
A lawsuit by former employees of Tyson Foods, Inc. against their
employer may go ahead, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on
Thursday. The four former workers are seeking damages as a result of
Tyson's use of illegal aliens to depress wages.
They sued the company under a provision of a 1996 law that made the
intentional employment of illegal aliens for financial gain a violation
of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
The RICO statute was originally passed by Congress as a tool for U.S.
Federal Prosecutors in their war against organized crime. U.S. lawyers
have used the civil provisions of the statute to seek treble damages
against defendants.
The 6th Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that denied the workers
the opportunity to seek damages from Tyson under the RICO Act. The 1996
Immigration Act allowed private citizens to sue employers for the
intentional employment of illegal aliens to undercut the wages of
American workers. The 6th Circuit said that U.S. workers had the right
to sue under RICO even if their place of work was represented by a
labor union.
(more)
Eric Schlosser explains Tyson Foods' union-crushing tactics
The Nation
. . . When Tyson Foods bought IBP in 2001, many workers feared that the
company would try to make wages in the beef industry similar to those
in the poultry industry, where the pay is even lower. Those fears now
seem to be justified. Tyson Foods is the largest meatpacking company
the world has ever seen, supplying supermarkets and fast-food chains
with beef, chicken and pork. The company's size and scale give it a
tremendous advantage when trying to break a local union. In February,
2003, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers at the Tyson
plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin, went on strike to prevent cutbacks in
wages, benefits and vacation time. Tyson promptly hired replacement
workers and kept the plant running. After eleven months on the picket
line, UFCW members voted to end the strike – but Tyson wouldn't rehire
most of them. The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the
scabs can be considered permanent replacements, paving the way for
Tyson to get the UFCW out of the plant completely. Workers at the Tyson
plant in Cherokee, Iowa, now face similar demands for wage and benefit
cuts. At a Tyson slaughterhouse in Brooks, Canada, sixty “team members”
(Tyson's term for its employees) were recently fired after a protest
against poor working conditions. The plant has no union, and “team
members” are expected to work six days a week.
(more)
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