On Thursday, March 15 2007, about 330 people packed into the Bladen Community College in Dublin, NC for a public hearing on Smithfield's renewal of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit, or water permit. Smithfield's permit is about to expire and it is seeking the renewal and expansion of it so the company can expand production to over 9.5 million hogs slaughtered each year. In other words, under the terms of the proposed permit, Smithfield would be allowed to increase its weekly production from 176,000 to 195,000 hogs slaughtered. According to a recent study done by the Research Associates of America, "the plant’s increased production over the past three years parallels an increase in injuries."
The room was divided with on one side of the room sat Smithfield Tar Heel Managerial staff and Smithfield Executives from Virginia and on the other sat Smithfield Workers and Environmentalists. Smithfield Workers spoke out against the proposed allowable increase in production. Workers told their stories about working on fast line speeds and their resultant injuries. Then the environmentalists took the stage and broached the subject of environmental degradation. They argued that the increase in hog production would undoubtedly increase the amount of hog waste dumped into the Cape Fear River. Rick Dove of the National Water Keeper Alliance expanded on the environmental destruction aspect of the water permit and addressed Smithfield's close alliance with the government blasting the water permit board by saying: "With [Smithfield's] grip on the government, they have been able to do things to the environment they should have never been permitted by you people. You have known the problem."
At the end of the night, over 40 people spoke, with only Smithfield Managerial and Executive Staff supporting the Permit. The dissident voices against the permit came from a diverse ad hoc coalition of workers, environmentalists and community members.
Alfonso Herrera
Julie Eisenberg
Libby Manly
Keith Ludlum
Rafael Hernandez
Done Willimas
Teshawna Williams
For more information about the environmental problems of hogs pollution see this video:
The Council of Churches of Greater Washington, a coalition of 75 area churches, passed a resolution condemning Smithfield Foods for creating an environment of intimidation and fear for workers and encourages its congregants to take direct action by not purchasing Smithfield products and contacting the company. Click for a copy of the resolution in html or as a pdf.
DC City Council introduces resolution condemning Smithfield Foods for creating an environment of intimidation and fear for workers and encourages all supermarkets and vendors in DC from stocking Smithfield meat products. Click for a copy of the resolution in html or as a pdf.
The August '08 issue of Business North Carolina features a cover story on the Justice@Smithfield campaign. Read the article in html or as a pdf.
New York Times columnist Adam Liptak discusses the lawsuit against Justice@Smithfield and the First Amendment. Read the column.
Fayetteville Observer: "Ruling forbids Smithfield Packing using threats"
The March '08 cover story in Labor Notes asks, "Is Fighting for Justice at Smithfield Racketeering?"
Smithifield's Tar Heel workers win a paid Martin Luther King Holiday. Read the press release.
Avram Lyon says when he sees Paula Deen on TV, "all I can think of are the people working under horrible conditions at Smithfield." Read his article in the Forward.
Breast Cancer foundation sues Smithfield Foods for trademark violation.
Read Justice@Smithifield's statement on the U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit court ruling on Smithfield.
The final quarter of Paula Deen's hour-long appearence on NPR's Diane Rehm Show Nov. 28 was dominated by questions over her association with Smithfield Foods. Listen to the show using Windows Media Viewer or Real Player.
On Thursday, November 8, 2007, activists with the Western Massachusetts Jobs With Justice organized a protest outside a brand new Big Y supermarket in Northampton. Read More.
On September 12, the Bergen County (NJ) Central Trades and Labor Council passed a resolution calling on Smithfield to "[o]bey the law, by providing a safe workplace, giving Smithfield workers the right to chose a union...free from interferene of any kind."
On August 6, Smithfield Tar Heel plant worker Jose Ozorio Figueroa was terminated. Company representatives claim it was for showing up four minutes late to his shift, but Ozorio believes that he was fired for his union activities. Read his statement.
Presidential Master Chef Talli V. Counsel asks celebrity chef Paula Deen to use her influence to end the “brutal working conditions” at Smithfield’s Tar Heel Plant. Read more.
On August 1, 2007, the City of Boston passed a resolution calling on the city to "review its purchasing of any products from the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, North Carolina....and suspend these purchases until the company ends all form of abuse, inimidation and violence against its workers..." It also encourages Boston supermarkets "to consider suspending their purchase of any Smithfield products..."
On Saturday, July 14, dozens of Nashville clergy, civil rights leaders and consumers rallied to demand that two area supermarkets to stop stocking Smithfield Foods pork products made at the company’s Tar Heel plant. Read more.
More than 100 supporters rallied in front of a Publix supermarket in Atlanta to demand that the market stop carrying pork products from Smithfield's Tar Heel plant. Read More.
More than 250 family members and supporters of Smithfield Workers delivered a Father’s Day Card to Harris Teeter’s president. Read the news coverage [With Video].
On June 4, the City of Cambridge, MA unanimously passed a resolution in support Smithfield workers in Tar Heel. Read the historic resolution.
Children of Smithfield workers will deliver a Father's Day card to Harris Teeter's PresidentDownload the flyer.
Jim Hightower: Paula Deen "has cooked up a big ol' mess of political controversy for herself." Read the story.
