Members of UFCW Local 431 Ratify New Contract with Tyson Fresh Meats in Waterloo, Iowa

Business Wire, Inc.

WATERLOO, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Members of UFCW Local 431 who work at the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Waterloo, Iowa, today announced that they ratified a new contract last week which covers 2,200workers at that plant. The new five-year contract includes restructured pay grades and initial first-year wage increases ranging from $.45 per hour to $2.45 per hour; improved funeral leave of up to 12 hours; a 60 day extension on birthday holidays; improved holiday pay that matches shift hours; and improved night shift differential time. The contract also provides new uniforms for the maintenance crew and coveralls for employees working in cold temperatures at the plant.

“This contract is a huge victory for workers at Tyson Fresh Meats,” said UFCW Local 431 President Jerry Messer. “This contract gives workers a chance to share in the success of a company they helped make profitable. By sticking together as a union, these workers have a voice on the job and the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Tyson Foods employs approximately 115,000 workers worldwide. The UFCW is the largest union at Tyson Foods, with more than 25,000 members covered by 27 collective bargaining agreements.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, immigration reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org.