“NLRB elections are also characterized by an extraordinary level of illegal activity… One out of every 17 eligible voters in NLRB elections is fired, suspended, demoted or otherwise economically punished for supporting unionization. If federal elections were run by NLRB standards, we would have seen 7.5 million Americans economically penalized for backing the ‘wrong’ candidate in the last election cycle. Imagine what this would mean. Every family in America would know someone who had been fired or suspended in retaliation for their political beliefs. Most citizens would quickly become too scared to participate in any public show of support for opposition candidates… What I’m describing may sound like a bad science fiction movie. But it is the reality that workers face when they try to organize.” -Dr. Gordon Lafer, Professor, University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (February 8, 2007)

“My name is Keith Ludlum and I work in the livestock department at Smithfield’s
Tar Heel, NC plant… The moment that made me realize we needed a union at Smithfield was when a fellow worker in his 50’s broke his leg on the job when it was pinned between an electric pallet jack and a concrete wall. The next day, when I came to work, he was there… with a full leg cast and using crutches…In 1994, Smithfield illegally targeted and fired me for my union organizing activities. I was fired for trying to get workers to sign cards to join the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). When I was fired, the supervisors and the deputy sheriff marched me out of the plant in front of all the other employees as an example to intimidate them. Shortly after my firing, there was a close vote for representation and the NLRB issued a complaint against Smithfield for violating workers’ rights. Clearly, the company’s anti-union campaign and severe intimidation and harassment cost us the election.” –Keith Ludlum, livestock employee who was reinstated in his old job after 12 years of litigation (February 8, 2007)