When Fresh Del Monte Produce moved its port operations from Camden, N.J., to Gloucester, N.J., it said goodbye to a 22-year relationship with Longshoremen (ILA) Local 1291 and left 200 workers without a job. In Gloucester, they hired members of an independent union and now pay cheaper wages and provide few, if any, benefits.
On November 22, hundreds of ILA members and supporters joined in a Day of Action with rallies and protests in Philadelphia, Galveston, Texas and at Del Monte’s North American headquarters in Coral Gables, Fla. Carrying signs that proclaimed ” Protect Good-Paying American Jobs”, they protested what they called the company’s corporate greed.
It’s not like the company needed the money. Monaco-based Fresh Del Monte Produce—which is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, the maker of packaged food products—had one of its best years in 2009, with more than $3 billion in sales and a net profit of $144 million.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/11/23/workers-supporters-protest-del-montes-greed/