By Bob Hennelly

Members of the Memphis union on strike since June at a protein processing plant owned by International Flavor & Fragrances are hoping to raise the visibility of their prolonged struggle at a protest held outside the multinational’s 521 West 57th Street headquarters in Manhattan on Oct. 18, at 1 p.m.

The Tennessee facility extracts protein out of soybeans that’s used by companies like Nestle, Purina, and Abbott Nutrition to produce baby formula, pet foods, soy-based nutritional powders, as well as other food and beverage products.  

The 140 workers are members of Local 390G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union which traces its origins to the Bakery and Confectionary Workers International Union of America, started in 1886.

“Our striking members at the IFF plant have stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to preserve their benefits and overtime premiums,” BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton said on the eve of the Manhattan rally. “It is past time for this company’s negotiators to return to the table and  find a way forward.” 

New York City’s Central Labor Council — comprised of over 300 unions representing 1.3 million members — is providing support for the rally and encouraging local union members to turn out.

“We are the largest regional labor federation in the country — we are a strong union town and sometimes there are to be these kinds of ongoing labor disputes and other job actions outside of New York City, as in the case of IFF, where we want to show our support and demonstrate our solidarity,” NYC CLC President Vincent Alvarez told Work-Bites.

“The company came in to gut the contract, pretty much,” BCTGM Secretary-Treasurer David Woods told Work-Bites. “Take the premium pay away and jack up the healthcare insurance premium so that a woman on the line that I know with a family of four — it had been costing her $140 a week — and now it’s over $350 a week and for worse coverage.” 

Woods noted the company had settled a union contract at its Gibson City, Illinois facility where the workforce was mostly white and Hispanic.

“The two plants make the same product and our members in Memphis feel like their plant’s been targeted because they’re African-American — that the company just thought they could get away with it in Tennessee,” Woods said. “IFF just got the plant in 2021 — it had been a DuPont plant and the union has been there for 50 years. It feels like a real change in the corporate culture.”

“I’m striking because of unfair negotiations and the right to an honest living for a honest day of work,” said Cornelius Moore, a lead operator with 11 years on the job. “I’m fighting for the younger generation of workers because I have a young family and my nieces, nephews and younger sister are employed at this same plant.”

Union officials say they have heard the company is having trouble maintaining production at the plant.

“It’s not running well — fire engines have shown up and the workers want to get back to work because they are concerned about the quality of the product that’s coming out of the plant,” Woods said.

“I’m striking for fair wages and a fair day of work,” said Brad King, a maintenance specialist with five years on the job. “I’m fighting for all the employees who, like me, went to work during COVID and made the company record profits. The company came to negotiations and basically spit in our faces.”

“We are on a mission to not only be the premier partner for our customers, but also the most responsible partner for our communities and the planet,” IFF states in its 2022 annual report. “That is why we have taken steps to embed ESG+ priorities across our entire enterprise to reaffirm and strengthen our commitment to managing our environmental footprint and making a positive impact on the communities in which we operate.”

The union says the last time they met with IFF was a few weeks before the strike started back on June 4.

“We have made every effort to reach a fair agreement, presenting the union with multiple offers, including competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package, which includes wage increases over the next three years and many new medical and paid time-off benefits,” IFF wrote in a statement to Work-Bites. “We have implemented our proposal, offering overtime pay of 1.5 times their hourly rate after 40 hours worked per week, and have not made any changes to benefits in the 2023 Plan year.”

IFF continued, “While we are disappointed the union rejected our proposals, we’re committed to reaching a fair and competitive contract that recognizes the important work of our employees and helps ensure the long-term success of our company. 

Back in 2021, IFF bought DuPont’s nutrition and bioscience division for $26.2 billion outbidding three other suitors and taking on an additional $12 billion in debt to create a company valued at $45.4 billion, according to Equities.com.

IFF’s SEC filings show CEO Frank Clyburn’s total compensation was $19,271,654 — while “the median employee's annual total compensation was $56,582….the ratio of annual total compensation of our CEO to our median employee for fiscal 2022 was 341 to 1. Excluding the CEO one-time sign-on awards, the ratio of our CEO to median employee for fiscal 2022 would be 174 to 1.”

The IFF strikers have garnered support from the local community and their elected representatives including Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson who rose to national prominence when he was expelled from the state legislature for staging a gun control protest on the floor of the chamber. He was returned to the body by a unanimous vote of the local County Board of Commissioners.  

Memphis is the place where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King came in April of 1968 to speak at a rally to support striking sanitation workers the day before he was assassinated.