FORT MADISON, IOWA – Over 400 Pinnacle Foods Workers in Fort Madison who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) voted on Sunday, January 6 to authorize a strike to protest the company’s plan to eliminate their pension plan. The Pinnacle Foods plant in Fort Madison manufactures canned food products, including Vienna sausages, Armour brand corned beef hash, beef stew and chili.
“In a volatile financial environment, Pinnacle Foods workers in Fort Madison are simply trying to protect middle class jobs and their retirement benefits after working hard to make their company profitable,” said UFCW Local 617 President Darin Boatman. “I hope this strike vote sends a strong message to the company and moves the negotiation process to a successful conclusion.”
Defined benefit pension plans are the most secure retirement system for workers. While many workers are forced to rely on less secure investments, like 401 (k) plans, or have no retirement at all, many UFCW members have retirement security through their pension benefits that provide for a monthly payment for their lifetime after they retire.
Pinnacle Foods, Inc. is backed by the Blackstone Group L.P., a private equity firm, and posted net sales of $2.5 billion in the 2011 fiscal year.
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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, 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, https://www.ufcw.org/, or join our online community at http://www.facebook.com/ufcwinternational and https://twitter.com/UFCW
