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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Aug. 3, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------KENNETT SQUARE, PA.
Mushroom workers continue seven-year struggle
By Joe Piette
Kennett Square, Pa.
Seven years ago, mushroom harvesters at Kaolin Mushroom Farms went on strike for union recognition. After years of legal battles, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court finally ordered Kaolin to bargain with the workers in December 1998. But the workers' struggle to win their first union contract at Kaolin still goes on.
On July 17, the Kaolin Mushroom Workers Union held a press conference and rally to inform their members and supporters that Kaolin Farms "is not negotiating in good faith."
"It is a mockery and an insult," union President Louis Tlaseca told the press. He and other workers described Kaolin owner Michael Pia's refusal to make any significant improvements in pay, benefits or working conditions.
Tlaseca said he gave out "Union de Trabajadores de Kaolin" T-shirts to three dozen workers at Pennock Park, next to Kaolin mushroom houses, after his first day back on the job. Tlaseca and 32 others were fired in 1993 for their union activities. A court decision forced Pia to rehire them.
Kaolin has forced workers to place 14 or more pounds of mushrooms in each box by carefully placing the stems between the mushrooms in the layers below. Workers are paid the same $1.30 per box that they used to receive for 10-pound boxes. This practice also eliminates the packers' jobs.
The union wants to replace Pia's system to one based on weight, with an additional 20-cents-per-pound increase.
Another demand is the right for workers to visit their families in Mexico during the winter holidays without losing their jobs or seniority.
The Kaolin struggle inspired workers at Blue Mountain Mushroom Farms in 1997 and at Vlasic (now Money's Mushrooms) in 1999 to vote for unions, both by 2-to-1 margins. Those bosses, following Pia's lead, are contesting the workers' votes in court.
Tlaseca is urging supporters to contact Michael Pia by mail at Kaolin Mushroom Farms, P.O. Box 1037, Kenneth Square, PA 19348 or by phone at (610) 444-4800 to tell him to meet the workers demands and treat them with respect and fairness.
For more information about the Kaolin Workers Union, contact Luis Tlaseca at (610) 307-0162 or Jessica Culley at (856) 881-2507.
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