Members of the Local 440 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union at Farmland Foods Pork processing facility in Denison voted down a contract proposal Sunday. Union Secretary Treasurer Leo Kanne says the vote rejecting the contract proposal does not mean there will be a strike at the Denison plant
Kanne says it does authorize the union to give a strike notice, but he says that’s not their intention, as they want to go back to the bargaining table. The vote was 92% "no", and Kanne says there are a couple of sticking points in the contract that resulted in its rejection. He say the additional health care costs and wage increases "just simply weren’t enough."
Kanne says he does not know when any new negotiations with Farmland will take place. Kanne says the company may not want to go back to the bargaining table, they don’t know. Farmland Foods was founded in 1959 and is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Incorporated. Kanne says the union members are working regular hours to start the week. There are some 1,400 workers at the plant.