DC Council Introduces Resolution on Smithfield

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
A resolution introduced Monday in DC City Council condemns Smithfield Foods and asks area supermarkets not to stock products from the prominent meat company. Hearings will be held in the fall. Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Marion Barry introduced a Sense of the Council resolution charging Smithfield with having created an environment of "intimidation and fear for workers who desperately want a voice on the job.Smithfield Foods has denied employees workers' compensation after they have been injured on the job, and has even fired injured workers." Co-sponsors included Chairman Vincent Gray and Councilmembers Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, Harry Thomas, Kwame Brown, Jim Graham, Tommy Wells and Yvette Alexander. The resolution comes after the announcement of a major campaign in DC and Prince George's County last month led by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, the Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO, other unions, over 75 area churches, families of workers, the local NAACP, and many others. Click here to get involved in the campaign and here to sign a petition against Smithfield’s worker abuses.