Union Voice Heats Up At Decatur Cold Storage (3/26/10)

Workers at Decatur Cold Storage in Decatur, Alabama, have won a union voice, thanks to an election victory that gave them the benefit of union representation.

The workers at Decatur Cold Storage, which stores poultry products for Wayne Farms poultry, have family ties to thank for their union voice. The organizing drive began when a worker at Wayne Farms, which is also represented by the RWDSU Alabama and Mid-South Council, told his cousin, a Decatur Cold Storage worker, about the benefits of union membership.

“The Wayne Farms worker was hearing all about the problems they had at Decatur, like never knowing their schedule, being sent home without working, constantly changing policies and things like that,” said RWDSU Representative Randy Hadley. “He told his cousin how thanks to the union, they didn’t have to worry about things like at Wayne Farms, and that’s how things got started at Decatur Cold Storage.”

The scheduling issues, along with pay that is way below what union workers earn and skyrocketing health insurance costs, made voting for the union a no-brainer for the cold storage workers. Management held meetings every day leading up to the election, making the usual promises that they would change the way things were done at Decatur, but the workers weren’t buying it and voted overwhelmingly for the union.