Highlander congratulates the workers at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, NC — and the United Food and Commercial Workers — for winning a union election at the plant in December after a bitter 16 year organizing drive. 

The victory gives workers a voice at the plant, which has been marked for years by low wages, unsafe working conditions, and intimidation and harassment by management. As the New York Times noted, it was also “one of the biggest private-sector union successes in years,” and it points the way for additional organizing at other plants throughout the South.

For the full New York Times article on the victory, click here. For additional analysis, see “Victory at Smithfield: Union scores big win in North Carolina” by the Instituet for Southern Studies.