by Tom Price

Kitchen workers at Evergreen State College were proud to serve Del Monte products with the 60,000 meals they served each month—and why not? Their ILWU Local 142 brothers and sisters in Hawaii planted, picked and processed the pineapple. Union sailors and ILWU dockers shipped the fruit to the college in Olympia, Wash., and Local 5 members served it.

But in Feb. 2006 Fresh Del Monte Produce decided it would close Hawaii operations in 2008. Then last November the company decided to shut down a year early, throwing 550 Local 142 members off the farm with little or no time to prepare. The operation closed in Jan. 2007.

When Del Monte refused to bargain a proper severance package, Local 142 filed and won an unfair labor practice charge and asked the ILWU International Executive Board for a boycott of Del Monte, which was approved at the Dec. 2006 Executive Board meeting.

Local 5 members have had a contract with Aramark food services, the Evergreen State College contractor, for three years. The union has a good relationship with Aramark, according to Local 5 Vice President Paul Malleck.

“We have monthly shop steward meetings with Craig Ward, the food service director,” Malleck said. “Last week we sat with him to discuss some work issues and we brought up the boycott against Del Monte and asked if they would join us in fighting for workers and hold wrongful companies responsible. I explained the situation in Hawaii and let him peruse the recent Dispatcher article.”

The next day Aramark sent back all Del Monte produce it had previously ordered and made a commitment to the boycott.

Back in Hawaii, the company has laid off everyone except a dozen maintenance people who will clean up the camp and do administrative work. The Hawaii State Dept. of Labor scheduled sessions to get the workers signed up for unemployment. Workers will be eligible for job training, relocation assistance and wage subsidies for those under 50 years old. The union worked with the state to provide “rapid response sessions” to inform workers of services and scheduled a job fair to help them find new jobs. The union bargained enhanced severance payments for seasonal workers, who otherwise would have had none.

Fred Galdones, President of Local 142, expressed gratitude to Local 5 for putting the Del Monte boycott into action.

“Fresh Del Monte Produce is a foreign-owned company with no ties to Hawaii,” Galdones said. “Their decision to shut down immediately showed they had no aloha for the workers who helped them build their wealth. Del Monte fought us all the way and gave the workers nothing more than they were forced to give. We urge others to join in the boycott of Fresh Del Monte Produce.”