Nearly 250 employees at Foster Farms’ poultry plant in Compton are preparing for a possible strike after rejecting the company’s latest contract proposal, union officials said Tuesday.
The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 630, voted overwhelmingly against the offer on Sunday. According to the union, the workers’ contract with one of the largest poultry producers on the West Coast expired June 14, 2020, and they are working under an extension agreement that can be terminated with seven days notice by either party.
The sides have met 18 times since then, mostly via Zoom but in person for the three most recent sessions.
Oscar Ruiz, the union representative for the Compton facility, told City News Service that negotiations are continuing, and the union will re-evaluate whether to go on strike based on what happens over the next couple of days.
Ruiz said the main issue is medical costs. The union says production, sanitation, warehouse and maintenance workers — approximately 70% of whom are Latina and Black women — voted “nearly unanimously against a contract proposal that would shift thousands of dollars of health care costs onto them.”
Attempts to reach Foster Farms for comment were not immediately successful.
