Organizing for a better life at Lipton

For Anita Anderson, working as an operator/trainer at the Lipton Tea factory in Suffolk, Virginia, could not have been more stressful. For two full years, she and her co-workers were forced to put in 12-hour shifts for 13 consecutive days before they could get a single day off. “We were off only two days out of every 30,” Anderson (left) said, due to the company policy known as “drafting.” “There wasn’t enough time to be with our families or see our children, and we knew that families would be torn apart if it kept up. And people were getting hurt because they were too tired. Back strains, hand lacerations, slips and falls were common." Making matters worse, if workers spoke up, they were told that if they didn’t like how things were, they could always quit. But instead of quitting, the Lipton workers organized and joined UFCW Local 400. Lipton abolished its "drafting" policy and now the workers are negotiating their first union contract. “Being a Local 400 member means I don’t have to take everything the company says or does to me,” Anderson says. “I don’t have to sit back and let them treat me any way they want. I can go to management and voice my opinion and even if they try to turn a deaf ear, someone is there to listen and to act.” Read more on UFCW 400's website.  

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