I suppose from far away, from somewhere high up the corporate beanstalk, factory workers blur and blend with the meat they process-maybe that is why the Tyson giants feel no remorse taking union gains away from its workers. Meeting-room minds reason that low input and steady production yields profit, caring little whether reductions come from meat quality or worker pay. But just as health-conscious consumers demand high food standards, plant workers demand fair working conditions.
Such demands are currently being voiced by workers at Tyson's plant in Jefferson, Wis., a facility that processes red meat for pepperoni, ham, ring baloney, and hot dogs. Four hundred seventy members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union have been on strike for more than six months, refusing to accept a contract that will freeze wages, reduce the new-hire wage and increase health-care premiums.
I suppose from up close, from somewhere inside the microcosmic world of Jefferson, Tyson's greed is sharp and prominent-maybe that is why the town supports this strike with boycotts and roadside signs. But the protest is moving outside the town and into larger communities-UW-Madison, for example, will no longer be serving Tyson products in its dining facilities-and it demands a response beyond mere commiseration.
The loss of the UW Madison's $50,000 contract adds a booming voice to the demands of local Tyson workers, but we must not pat ourselves on the back until we recognize the larger issue. Jefferson is only 30 miles east of Madison, a quick drive from campus. Because facts are accessible and struggles visible-some of us may even have friends or relatives directly affected-we can easily rationalize a boycott against Tyson's products.
But although we suspect that worse conditions produced clothing labeled \Made in Guatemala"" or frozen vegetables packaged in Mexico, we buy these products anyway. We dismiss visions of sweatshops, child labor and pesticide exposure because facts are unavailable or unreliable. Perhaps we are afraid that if we attach emotions to our suspicions, a soft spot will spread like a bruise on rotting fruit: We will become obligated label checkers, forced merger watchers.
So while I applaud UW Madison's decision for cutting ties with Tyson, I fervently hope that the issue in Jefferson will tap our collective skin hard enough to pool blood beneath the surface. If our indifference rots away, perhaps seeds of global change will emerge-we will see that acting on one local issue may help our friends and relatives, but thinking globally will force corporate giants to zoom in more carefully on the world below them. Our consumer choices must teach them to distinguish human lives from production inputs.
