Fired Catfish Workers Start Their Own Union.

• Author: RAMBSY, HOWARD II

In November, African-American workers at Freshwater Farms, a catfish processing plant in the Mississippi Delta, told the management that they were "sick and tired" of deplorable working conditions and job discrimination. They began a picket. The company's management responded by firing sixty-eight black workers, saying they had violated their contract.

"It was a wildcat strike," says Dean Kiker, the general manager of Freshwater Farms. "We have a union contract. It states that anyone who participates in or encourages a strike will be fired without warning."

Now the fired workers are taking matters into their own hands with a new union, a boycott of Freshwater Farms, and a plan to build a catfish processing factory of their own.

In a written statement, the fired workers said:

* There were no black workers in senior management positions.

* Management frequently used the words "girl" and "boy" to address black workers.

* Vehicles driven by black employees were routinely searched "upon entry for drugs and alcohol, and upon exit for theft" while white employees' cars were seldom searched.

* Workers were exposed to health hazards such as "bloody hair and beard nets, dried fish excrement, and exposure to a wet and cold environment."

* Workers received low pay: employees with ten years' experience got just $6.25 an hour.

* Workers' rights to bathroom breaks were restricted.

Kiker says employees who felt they weren't treated right should have filed grievances with the union...