Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 2, 1994                   TAG: 9409020072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VALLEYDALE WORKERS VOTE TO UNIONIZE

Six ballots were challenged - five by the union and one by the company, according to Local 400 president Gene Moser. National Labor Relations Board certification of the election will await the outcome of those challenges.

Earlier efforts to organize a union at the plant had been unsuccessful. Valleydale is a unit of Smithfield Foods Inc.

Moser said the drive among the 160 hourly workers at the plant began in February when he was approached by an employee who said the workers wanted to organize.

Issues concerning the workers have included pensions, wages and health and welfare benefits, but one of the main issues has been fairness in the workplace, Moser said.

When the organizing drive at the plant was heating up in May and June, the company laid off about 45 night-shift workers involved in making bacon, Moser said. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company as a result of the layoffs, he said.

Valleydale said the layoffs were seasonal and the result of too large an inventory of bacon. The company announced in July that it was recalling some of the workers.