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Leaders at Tyson Foods' Columbus Junction pork processing plant believe a union used distribution events for federally funded COVID-19 relief payments to persuade the plant's employees to support a unionization drive, according to a letter obtained by the Des Moines Register.
Plant manager Brent McElroy wrote in a Jan. 8 memo that United Food & Commercial Workers Local 431 representatives convinced employees to sign union authorization cards at recent events where a nonprofit provided $600 checks through the federally funded Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program.
In his memo, posted in English and Spanish at the 1,400-employee Columbus Junction plant, McElroy wrote that he heard some meatpackers had been "pressured" into signing cards. If at least 30% of employees at a work location sign authorization cards, the employees can petition the National Labor Relations Board to hold a unionization vote.
"By signing this card, you are authorizing the Union to speak for you regarding your wages, hours and working conditions, and you are giving up your right to continue to work directly with me, and all of your managers and supervisors here in Louisa County," McElroy wrote.
The nonprofit distributing the checks, Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, confirmed in a news release Monday that it partnered with the union. UFCW Local 431 President Simplice Kuelo, meanwhile, declined to discuss whether his group is working to organize the Columbus Junction factory.
"The union is just listening to workers," Kuelo said. "There is no further comment we can make."
Tyson confirmed the letter was authentic. But a Tyson spokesperson did not answer other questions from the Des Moines Register, including whether the Arkansas-based food giant believes the union broke labor laws.
In a statement, spokesperson Liz Croston said the company encouraged employees to apply to receive the Farm & Food Worker Relief funds and wants employees to "thrive both inside and outside the workplace."
"The intent of the letter posted at our Columbus Junction plant was to address confusion and questions brought to us by team members on the requirements to obtain these funds," Croston added.
UFCW International spokesperson Bryan Doherty declined to answer questions from the Register about whether Tyson officials have complained to the union about Local 431's alleged tactics. Instead, Doherty said in a statement that UFCW leaders were "instrumental" in crafting the relief program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving $670 million allocated by Congress to organizations charged with distributing $600 checks to farmhands and meatpacking employees who have worked since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Many are employed at worksites like the Columbus Junction plant that had large outbreaks in the early months of the pandemic.
According to a letter Tyson submitted to Congress, about 550 employees at the plant contracted the virus in those early months. Two died.
Partnership between union, nonprofit distributing checks not illegal, labor expert says
Among the groups that have received funds from the USDA, the UFCW Charity Foundation got the most money, $141.6 million. Doherty said the UFCW will provide $600 checks to both union and nonunion workers.
According to McElroy's letter, UFCW Local 431 has been recruiting Columbus Junction workers in coordination with Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, an Iowa City-based organization that helps immigrant workers. Escucha Mi Voz Iowa received about $1.5 million in relief checks to distribute as a subcontractor of Catholic Charities USA.
In addition to Columbus Junction meatpackers, Escucha Mi Voz Iowa planned to give checks to workers in West Liberty, Conesville, Kalona and Washington County. As of Wednesday, according to the organization's Facebook page, Escucha Mi Voz Iowa had distributed checks to 1,800 workers.
In his. Jan. 8 letter, McElroy wrote that Columbus Junction employees were confused about whether they had to sign a union authorization card to receive the checks.
"You should also know that you do NOT have to sign a union authorization card to receive the $600 payment ― it is illegal for either the Union or Escucha Mi Voz to withhold this payment if you choose not to sign a union card," he wrote. "Employees are not required to sign any union authorization card in order to receive the $600 payment."
Mark Gaston Pearce, executive director of the Workers' Rights Institute at Georgetown University, said a partnership between Local 431 and Escucha Mi Voz Iowa is not illegal as long as the two groups don't trick workers into thinking they have to sign union authorization cards to receive the checks.
In a statement, Escucha Mi Voz Iowa said that workers were not required to sign union cards to receive the checks.
University of Iowa labor law professor Paul Iversen said McElroy's letter could raise legal red flags if National Labor Relations Board members believe he is is trying to convince employees not to join a union.
“The fact that union representatives may be at the same house (as another organization) or even go to some (of the organization's) events to speak is not an unfair labor practice," Iversen said. "And potentially, the notice being posted could be an unfair labor practice for coercing.”
The Spanish version of McElroy's Jan. 8 memo did, apparently, raise concerns within Tyson about whether managers had threatened workers. In a Q&A memo posted at the factory and provided to the Register, Tyson managers responded to an inquiry asking, "Why did you tell us in your posting last week that 'If we signed a union card, we would have to resign?'"
"We apologize but there was a miscommunication in our translation," the company wrote in the memo. "What we intended to say is that if you bring the Union in (and if you signed a Union authorization card to do so), you could be giving up your right to continue to work directly with Brent, and your managers and supervisors, to resolve your issues and concerns."
According to the memo, the company also discouraged workers from forming a union. The company told workers they would have to pay union dues, would lose their wages if they went on strike and wouldn't be able to get help from managers directly.
The company also told workers that the union could not guarantee more paid time off and that a unionized Tyson plant in Iowa has the same health care benefits as the nonunion Columbus Junction factory.
"We are NOT afraid of the Union, the UFCW, Local 431," the memo reads. "... We are concerned, however, because we believe that bringing Local 431 into our facility here in Louisa County will not be in the best interest of our team members."
A unionized Columbus Junction plant would be a significant win for Kuelo, who became Local 431's president in November 2021. A Congolese immigrant, Kuelo beat a union veteran in the election in part by arguing that his background would help Local 431 connect better with a diverse meatpacking workforce.
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