Oscar Mayer workers may be losing their jobs but they intend to publicly pressure Kraft Heinz to the bitter end.
In late 2015, parent company Kraft Heinz announced it would shutter its Oscar Mayer facilities in Madison after almost 100 years operating in the city. A protest is planned for Thursday at 1 p.m. in front of the Packers Avenue plant to shine a light on recent grievances alleged by workers. Doug Leikness, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 538, which represents Oscar Mayer workers, says workers want Kraft Heinz to honor its contracts and exit agreements.
“They are delaying on purpose. The company is trying not to deal with grievances and other matters, hoping it just fades away. They figure since people are leaving, the union won’t go to arbitration or fight this,” says Leikness. “Oscar Mayer may be leaving Madison but we still expect the company to bargain in good faith with us.”
Since the announcement of the plant closure, more than 600 workers have left Oscar Mayer as facility production winds down. At the end of June, the remaining workers — around 110 employees — will clock out for the very last time. A small clean-up crew will finish closing the facility by the end of July.
In late 2015, an exit agreement was reached between Kraft Heinz and the unionized workforce. Leikness says the company agreed to dismiss workers based on seniority. At first, things went smoothly. Some veteran Oscar Mayer workers voluntarily left early. But in recent months, Leikness says the company has terminated workers with more experience in favor of more junior employees.
“The company is using the closing agreement to say they can exit workers out of seniority order. But there is no language in the agreement that allows them to do that,” says Leikness. “If it did, it would have been a free-for-all this whole time.”
Michael Mullen, senior vice president of corporate and government affairs for Kraft Heinz, declined to answer specific questions about the rally or workers’ grievances. Mullen did offer one statement. “We fully appreciate that the union president shares our commitment to do what’s right for our employees in Madison,” wrote Mullen in an email. “Upon making the difficult but necessary decision to close our Madison facility, all parties involved signed a closing agreement, which Kraft Heinz has followed and will continue to follow.”
UFCW has also filed a labor charge against Kraft Heinz for terminating one of two chief union stewards who, according to Leikness, the company agreed to keep on until the plant was closed. He says the stewards are needed now more than ever as the union helps workers navigate post-employment benefits with Oscar Mayer. He cites one example of a recent retiree who was only receiving a fraction of his pension. The union figured out the problem and produced the evidence to get the discrepancy straightened out.
“The company doesn’t give workers any help when it comes to pensions. The union enrolls them. We fill out the paperwork and make the phone calls,” says Leikness. “In some cases, we spend several months ensuring workers are getting the benefits that they earned.”
Leikness is a third generation Oscar Mayer worker. His grandfather and father also worked at the Madison plant. Leikness just retired after 30 years with the company. One reason he's staying on as union president is to help shepherd a pending lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly 1,000 Oscar Mayer retirees. The dispute is over whether Kraft Heinz violated its contract with retirees by dropping them from the company’s health insurance plan in favor of private health reimbursement arrangement accounts.
“The company could have bargained with us on this and reached an agreement that would have been good for everybody. Instead, they just went ahead and did it. Now, retirees — some who retired two decades ago — are finding that certain prescriptions aren't covered and they have to pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars out-of-pocket,” says Leikness. “A judge will decide whether [Kraft Heinz] violated its contract. Every single retiree who walked out of here knew their agreement. Many of them lived with that agreement for 20 years before, boom, the company decides to drop them from Kraft’s insurance.”
Leikness says even the announcement about the Thursday rally has prompted Kraft Heinz to respond to union grievances.
“Why did it take announcing a rally for that to happen?” Leikness asks. “The purpose of the rally is to put a spotlight on Kraft Heinz so they uphold their agreements. That spotlight will continue to shine until they leave town.”
