Mt. Olive Pickle Company - Company Fact Sheet regarding FLOC Boycott

Boycott Questions & Answers

Regarding the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) Boycott of our Company

What is this boycott all about?

The central question of FLOC’s boycott of Mt. Olive is who makes union decisions on the farm. FLOC, a labor union based in Toledo, OH, seeks to organize the employees of independent North Carolina growers. To achieve this, FLOC has targeted Mt. Olive, a North Carolina food manufacturer that purchases fresh cucumbers from growers in over nine states and two foreign countries. FLOC is insisting that Mt. Olive require farmers to negotiate a union contract for their employees, that Mt. Olive participate in the negotiations, and that we sign as a party to the contract. We believe union representation is up to employees and their employers.

What would a successful boycott of Mt. Olive cost?

The jobs of 500 year-round employees and their families. Our employees enjoy competitive wages and benefits, including profit sharing and 401(k) plans, paid health insurance and a wellness program. Should the boycott be successful, many Mt. Olive employees would have difficulty replacing this level of income and benefits in rural Eastern North Carolina.
A portion of the retirement income for our employees, as well as the quality of life for hundreds of retirees. Mt. Olive established an Employee Profit Sharing plan for all of its regular employees in 1943. The company was among the first 200 firms in the country to do so. Today, the Employee Profit Sharing Trust is one of the company’s largest shareholders.
The economic stability of a rural, Eastern North Carolina community. Mt. Olive Pickle has deep roots in its hometown of Mount Olive, which has a population of less than 5,000. The company’s annual payroll exceeds $20 million. Each year the company provides nearly $500,000 in product and cash contributions to our local community, as well as other communities where our products are sold.

How is Mt. Olive addressing farm worker concerns in its cucumber purchasing?

Mt. Olive carefully selects its cucumber suppliers, and we require signed compliance statements from our suppliers and their growers each season. These statements affirm in writing that suppliers and growers are in compliance with applicable federal and state laws relating to farm employees. The statements also affirm that Mt. Olive will be notified in the event of a regulatory investigation regarding compliance issues.
Mt. Olive requires suppliers and growers to register their housing with the N.C. Department of Labor, and to have that housing inspected and certified before the start of each season.
In an effort to promote good practices, Mt. Olive offers periodic workshops on compliance issues and makes expert advice available to suppliers and growers when questions arise. The company also offers financial incentives for growers whose migrant housing qualifies for recognition in the N.C. Department of Labor’s Gold Star Grower program.
Mt. Olive has hired a bilingual field manager in our Procurement Department. In addition to traditional procurement duties, this person is available to assist in communication issues between farmers and their migrant employees.

How is Mt. Olive addressing farm worker concerns in North Carolina?

In a partnership with Duke University and others, Mt. Olive is working on initiatives to address specific issues:

A model farm worker housing project that demonstrates good housing design, is cost effective and easy to replicate.
Study of a proposal to implement a certification and training process for farm labor contractors (crew leaders) operating in North Carolina.
Expanded workers’ compensation insurance coverage on the farm.

How does Mt. Olive compare with the rest of the pickle industry in dealing with unionized farms?

North Carolina is the second-largest producer of pickling cucumbers in the U.S. (Michigan is #1.) Most major pickle companies buy cucumbers in North Carolina, and at least one buys more than Mt. Olive. All cucumbers purchased in North Carolina, both pickling and fresh market, are grown on farms without union contracts.
In Ohio, where FLOC is based, most major pickle companies, including Mt. Olive, purchase cucumbers from farms where FLOC contracts are in place.

How much economic impact does Mt. Olive have in North Carolina agriculture?

Of all farm labor hand-harvest hours worked in North Carolina, Mt. Olive’s cucumber purchases account for approximately one percent.
Mt. Olive’s North Carolina cucumber purchases represent a tiny portion of farm cash receipts in the state. North Carolina’s total farm cash receipts in 2002 were $6.6 billion. Cash receipts for all cucumbers, fresh market and pickling, totaled $35.5 million. Of that, Mt. Olive’s cucumber purchases were $3.7 million. For comparison, tobacco, the largest hand-harvest crop in North Carolina, brought in $656 million in cash receipts in 2002.

Do three-way collective bargaining negotiations now take place in Ohio?

FLOC champions a three-way collective bargaining process involving the union, growers and pickle companies. That process currently does not exist in Ohio. FLOC, on behalf of farm workers, negotiates issues of wages and working conditions with growers. Pickle companies do not participate in these negotiations. No reference is made in FLOC’s current collective bargaining agreements to any rights, responsibilities or role pickle companies play. The pickle companies do sign to endorse the spirit of the agreement reached between FLOC and growers, but they do not sign as a party to the agreement, and they do not participate in collective bargaining negotiations.
When FLOC first won contracts in Ohio in the 1980s, farm workers were classified as independent contractors. Once farm workers were reclassified as employees of the farmer in the early 1990s, however, pickle company participation in a collective bargaining process on behalf of these workers ceased.

Background Information

Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Inc., was established in 1926 in Mount Olive by a group of local business leaders as a means of giving area farmers a market for their cucumbers. Today, about one-third of all the cucumbers purchased by Mt. Olive are grown in North Carolina.
Mt. Olive was first threatened by a boycott in 1997. FLOC launched the boycott in March, 1999.
For more information, contact Lynn Williams, community relations, at 800.672.5041, or by e-mail at lwilliams@mtolivepickles.com. Or, write us at Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Inc., Corner of Cucumber & Vine, P.O. Box 609, Mount Olive, NC 28365.