WNYLaborToday.com Editor's Note: Photos Courtesy of the Western New York Area AFL-CIO Labor Federation.

(FREDONIA) – Local Business and Community Leaders Were Expected to Join With Union Members During a Rally Held Today (Thursday, May 29th) in Fredonia Where ConAgra Foods Will Be Publicly Asked to Maintain a Portion of its Operations in Northern Chautauqua County and Provide its Employees Fair and Decent Severance Packages.

In What Can Only Be Described as a Major Economic Blow to the Local Community, ConAgra Foods - One of the Most Profitable Food-Processing Corporations in All the United States - Announced in March That it Would Close its Carriage House Plants in Fredonia and Dunkirk by February 2015 and Move Them to a Non-Union Operation in Buckner, Kentucky.  The Northern Chautauqua County Plants Make Private-Label Condiments and Sauces, Including Salad Dressings and a Variety of Beverage Mixes and Syrups.

The Announcement Will Also Negatively Impact 425 Workers Employed at the Two Food Processing Plants, Who are Represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 266/National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO).

“We’re asking ConAgra to ‘Do Right’ by its Employees, the Community and ‘All’ of Chautauqua County,” said Local 266 President Tom Dickerson, Who’s Worked at ConAgra for 32 Years. “All We’re Asking is to be Treated Fairly.  A Corporation Shouldn’t Wipe Out a Community and Just Walk Away.”

In an Extended Interview With WNYLaborToday.com Before Today’s Rally, Dickerson Told Your Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper That Local Residents are “Doing a Slow Burn” Over ConAgra’s Announcement, Which Many Did Not See Coming.

“The Trouble is, if (the Union) Had Screwed Things Up, it Would be Different.  But When ConAgra Came in, We Asked Them if We Needed to Sit Down and Renegotiate Our Contract to Ensure the Plant Would Stay Open.  They Told Us ‘No’ and That’s Part of the Overall Problem.  We Tried to Meet With the Former Owner and Then ConAgra Over the Past Two Years and We Weren’t Given That Opportunity.  All We Got is When They Came in With Their Security Guards and Were Told They Were Shutting the Plants Down,” Dickenson said.

A Crowd of 200 Local Business Owners, Faith, Community and Labor Leaders and Union Members are Anticipated to Take Part in the Rally That Will be Held in Barker Commons in the Center of Fredonia as They Join Together to Publicly Ask ConAgra for “Dignity and Justice.”  

The Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) Has Played a Major Role in Overseeing Creation of the Rally, Which Will Start at 5 p.m.  Representatives of the Dunkirk AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, as well as its Affiliated Unions, and the Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council Were Also Expected to Participate in the Late Day Rally.

Hundreds Of ConAgra Employees and the Coalition For Strong Communities - Which Consists of More Than 40 Local Businesses and Community Organizations Who are Concerned About the Community-Wide Impact of the Plant Closings - Will Ask ConAgra: to Commit to Maintain Some Portion of its Operations in the Dunkirk-Fredonia Community; Provide a Fair Severance Package to Their Workers (Many Whom Have Worked at the Plants for More Than 20 Years), Which Would Allow Them Time to Look for Other Employment; and Allow the Sale of the Unused Facilities to Any New Prospective Buyers Without Any Strings Attached so the Dunkirk-Fredonia Community Will Have a “Fighting Chance” to Maintain Good Local Jobs.

ConAgra Came Into Northern Chautauqua County in 2013 as the New Owners of Plants that Have Been Operating For Decades. Besides the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia, ConAgra’s Food-Processing Plants Were the Area’s Largest Employers.  Fredonia Mayor Stephen Keefe Was Quoted in the Local Media as saying the Plant Closings Will Have an “Even Bigger Impact” Because of Lost Property Tax Dollars.

“We’ve Lost More Than One Thousand Jobs Over the Past Couple of Years and the Longevity for Most of These Workers at the ConAgra Plants in ‘Unreal.’  We’re Hoping to at Least Maintain Some Warehousing Operation,” Dickenson said of How Hard-Hit the Dunkirk/Fredonia Community Has Been as of Late.  “These Companies Come in and They ‘Dictate’ to Us Who They Will and Who They Won’t Sell Their (Local) Plants to.  We Need to Get it Across to Them That They Have to be the ‘Caring Company’ They say They are.”

Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council President David Wilkinson, Who Also Serves as Business Manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106 and is Heavily Involved in the Chautauqua County Labor Coalition, Told WNYLaborToday.com That He Would Be in Attendance at the Fredonia Rally.

“This is All About the Need to Focus on Retaining Jobs,” Wilkinson said.  “I’m Sick and Tired of Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) Giving Out Taxpayer Dollars to Companies Like ConAgra, Who Reap the Benefits and Then Walk Away Without Any Consequences.”