September-October 2005

No time to quit

Raul and Hilda Rodrieguez

Raul Rodrieguez and his 12-year-old daughter lived through a fall off of a bridge. He won the fight for his life, now he and wife Hilda are struggling for their jobs and dignity.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa  
The place where he worked says he quit as he lay in a Mexican hospital. Raul Rodrieguez was seriously injured, and under a doctor's care for over two months after driving off of a bridge. There was no sign that the bridge was out and Raul and his daughter were lucky to survive a 30 ft. fall. But now he and his family are in a battle with a Swift Company meatpacking plant.

Beyond their personal plight, Raul and Hilda are really motivated by a bigger issue, said organizer Anna Galovich, who works with Latinos en Accion de CCI. "They want to stop this discriminatory firing and throwing people away that Swift does," she said.

"Terrible collision! Faulty sign," reads headline in Mexican newspaper about the crash Raul Rodrieguez survived. To right of headline is photo of Raul on a stretcher.

Through involvement with Latinos en in Accion, the couple knew they could fight and that someone would fight with them. Raul and Hilda knew Swift was treating them disrespectfully and as it became clear the mistreatment wouldn't stop, their resolve to fight grew, said Galovich.

Raul was injured in mid-May and had to undergo 45 days of treatment and rehabilitation in Mexico.

Doctors wouldn't let him leave and Hilda talked with Swift officials and told them she had to go care for her husband and her daughter.

When the family returned to Iowa in July, Raul and Hilda were told that they had been fired because of three unexcused absences.  

Since that time the couple has produced letters from doctors, newspaper articles and photos to prove Raul was very badly injured.

The company, however, has stuck to its claim that the family didn't communicate while away. By Swift's reckoning there was a violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act and meant that the couple lost 12 weeks of federally mandated unpaid leave for a medical emergency or to care for a sick relative.

But Raul and Hilda said they did communicate what was happening and were told things would be worked out. Common sense would also seem to dictate that someone who could have died in an accident would be cut a little slack. Raul and Hilda's son Ruben said that changed when a union rep said the company wanted to get rid of the couple and it wasn't worth fighting for their jobs. 

If things seem a little fishy, more than one person has had questions about the situation. When Swift argued that the couple should not receive unemployment benefits, Iowa's unemployment agency disagreed and granted them benefits.
A Des Moines Register writer also felt the company's claims didn't quite add up. "Here's how it looks: The company wrongly fired two employees after an unforeseeable accident. When confronted by the union, Swift tried to cover itself, offering another chance, but throwing up hurdles when the couple tried to comply. Now, with their feet to the fire, managers are offering a different story," wrote columnist Rekha Basu, in the Des Moines Register.

Meanwhile, Latinos en Acción de CCI members met with a safety consultant from the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Most participants also worked for the Swift meatpacking plant. They voiced concerns about plant conditions and OSHA agreed to form a partnership with Latinos en Acción de CCI to make Swift a safer place to work.

More than 10 workers shared testimonies about problems faced by Swift employees. One worker talked about problems with line speed. “It goes too fast for us to do our job well,” she said. “Workers don’t have time to sharpen their knives and when workers work with dull knives is when accidents happen.” 

“We asked you here today not just to tell you about the unsafe working conditions but also because Swift is completely unwilling to work with us to make the plant a safe place to work,” said Latinos en Acción de CCI member Maria Lira. “Every time we try to report unsafe conditions or ask for changes, our jobs are threatened."

The OSHA representative agreed to help the group file a formal complaint against Swift. The complaint will mean Swift will face an OSHA investigation. Latinos en Acción de CCI has also  invited Swift General Manager Doug Knowles to a Dec. 6 community meeting.The meeting topics will include discussion of community concern about workplace-related injuries and unjust firings, including the firing of Raul and Hilda.