October 1999

Fight to unionize Beverly

Ruleville, Miss.-Workers at a nursing home in Ruleville owned by Beverly Enterprises have got themselves together and filed a petition for a union election. They want to be represented by UFCW Local 1529 There are about 75 workers at the nursing home, and nearly all of them are Black women.

People might be surprised to see what is happening in Ruleville today. The last time Ruleville was in the headlines, it was when Fannie Lou Hamer led the voting rights fight here in the 1960s. Today they teach about her in the Ruleville schools, but a lot of the conditions she fought against are still oppressing the people in Ruleville

The organizing committee at the nursing home is really strong. It has about 15 people, from all the different departments-CNAs (nurses' aides), housekeeping, laundry, dietary, and maintenance. I have been going to their meetings, and they are really enthusiastic. One nurses' aide told how when she was in high school she went to the civil rights marches with Fannie Lou Hamer-She said that when she went to work at the nursing home, a group of workers was talking about the conditions. They tried to get everyone together to protest to the director, but people were in fear.

This time, she said, we are going to get a union, The campaign started in April, and people have been signing up ever since. The workers say that what makes them angriest is the way management talks to them and treats them. They got accused of not doing their jobs or not taking good care of the patients. But there are too many patients-for each worker. No one could do a good job under these conditions.

When you start at Beverly, you start at just over the minimum wage. The average wage is $6.00 an hour. Even though it is a health care facility, there are no real medical benefits, And there is no job security. Management keeps a revolving door going, firing workers all the time for trumped-up stuff,

Beverly Enterprises is not a little company. It is a powerful giant national chain of about 600 nursing homes and hospitals across the country. Everyone knows it is a strong anti-union company. Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University testified to Congress that Beverly was "one of the nation's most notorious labor law violators." They sued her for saying it, but they lost.-The NLRB has ordered them to stop threatening pro-union workers, but they keep right on trying to do it.

We have a couple Beverly facilities unionized in Jackson, after a long struggle. We won an election at a Beverly home in Memphis, but Beverly tied it up, challenging it. They fight you all the way, they just do delay after delay, instead of negotiating a contract.

The workers in Ruleville are prepared for a long fight. If you visit there, you will find that the struggle Fannie Lou Hamer began, these workers want to finish.

- UFCW Local 1629 activist

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