Tyson workers in Camila to benefit from new poultry industry contract

CAMILLA — The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union announced recently that 1,800 workers at the Equity/Tyson poultry processing plant in Camilla voted to ratify a contract said to be a strong one with improved benefits for poultry workers.

The RWDSU said 97 percent of those members voted to approve the contract’s ratification. The negotiation team at the RWDSU Southeast Council worked to secure what the union said is the strongest contract workers in the poultry industry have seen in years.

The contract will be in effect for three years and includes provisions that include:

♦ A reduction in health care costs to members;

♦ Annual general wage increases over the term of the contract equaling $1.50, an additional 20 cents per hour wage increase based on seniority and additional classification wage increases in some jobs of up to 75 cents per hour;

♦ Personal days now count as time worked for the purpose of computing overtime, when previously they did not. Workers can now use personal days on Fridays, Mondays and on weekends, when previously they were not allowed to take personal days on these days;

♦ Overhaul of the contract language clarifying many articles in the contract to help workers on the job with strengthening seniority, job bidding rights, layoff and recall rights;

♦ The employer will post all job promotions and openings in conspicuous places in the plant and recognize members’ rights to obtain those jobs by seniority.

The RWDSU represents poultry workers across the southern U.S., including workers at Pilgrim’s Pride, Wayne Farms and Tyson locations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.

This announcement comes among a string of organizing and contract wins in the South for the RWDSU while bringing a union voice for workers in previously anti-union workplaces.

The RWDSU has secured similar contracts across the South in food processing and distribution among many other industries. The union said the ratification at Tyson now leads the industry.

“The people of Georgia are fighters, and especially the workers at Equity/Tyson in Camilla, are a strong force for real industry change — and I could not be prouder to work with them to secure this contract,” Edgar Fields, president of the RWDSU Southeast Council, said. “Absolutely nothing could stop our members from fighting for the critical provisions of this contract that were going to impact so many workers, not just at this facility, but for years to come at so many others — they set a new standard for poultry workers.”

The RWDSU represents more than 3,000 workers in Georgia, and more than 10,000 poultry workers across the southern United States.

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