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Smithfield Settlement

By & • Oct 31, 2008

Smithfield Foods and the United Food and Commercial Workers settled a federal racketeering lawsuit this week. Now the nearly five thousand workers at the plant in Tar Heel will have another chance to vote on union representation.

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Related Content

Smithfield Foods Goes 'Hog Wild' Over Shuanghui Merger

By • May 29, 2013
A hog farm in Lyons, Georgia.
Jeff Vanuga, USDA NRCS

The multi-billion dollar merger announcement between Smithfield Foods and China-based Shuanghui International caught many people by surprise.  Smithfield owns the largest hog processing plant in the world, in Tar Heel.  And thousands of hog farmers and factory workers in North Carolina are employed by the company.

If the deal clears regulatory hurdles, it could be the biggest takeover of a US company by a Chinese company.

Smithfield Workers Protest

By • Nov 17, 2006

Many workers at the Smithfield hog processing plant in Tar Heel North Carolina continue to speak-out about what they call "bad" work conditions. But yesterday instead of just speaking-out – hundreds of workers walked out.

Union Fight Headed To Court

By • Feb 6, 2008

The fight between Smithfield and the United Food and Commercial Workers over unionizing the Tar Heel hog processing plant has entered a new phase. A federal judge in Virginia has allowed a lawsuit filed by Smithfield to go forward.

The suit accuses the UFCW of a coordinated public smear campaign.  It uses the RICO statutes that were created to fight organized crime. The lawsuit is the latest step in a confrontation that has slowly been moving out of the plant itself and into the kitchens and living rooms of consumers.