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Swift workers approve contract
GREELEY, Colo. (AP)--Workers at Swift & Co.'s meatpacking plant approved a new five-year contract Nov. 20, averting a strike, union officials said.
With the old contract set to expire at midnight, negotiators worked until the early morning hours to reach the new deal.
It will give workers incremental raises but will also require them to pay more for health care.
About half of the 2,200 workers covered by the contract cast ballots and 90 percent of those voted for the new contract.
"Any time workers approve a contract by a 9-to-1 margin, you know it's a good deal," said Ernest Duran, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. The contract guarantees raises totaling $1.50 an hour over five years. That will raise the base hourly wage for a packinghouse worker to $11.25.
The contract also prevents the company from increasing the speed of the production line without the approval of workers. The union said that line speed has been a difficult safety issue for a year.
However, workers will see their health care premiums rise along with co-payments for doctor's visits and prescriptions.
Date: 11/23/04
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