1984 Marval turkey strike

August 2026 August 2026 1984 labor strike in Virginia 1984 Marval turkey strike June 2 – August 2, 1984note Multiple sources give the start date of the strike as June 2, 1984.Carmichael 1984 Perl 1984c Perl 1984e Serrin 1985 16 The end date is calculated based on a 2014 article by academic David C. Huffman, who said that the strike lasted 61 days.Huffman 2014 64(06 02 1984 08 02 1984) Dayton, Virginia, United States Increased wages and improved working conditions * Boycott Picketing Strike action Strike ended without a new labor contract; Union later decertified in October 1984 United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 Marval Poultry Company, Inc. In June 1984, several hundred workers at a turkey processing plant owned by the Marval Poultry Company in Dayton, Virginia, United States, went on strike. Within two months, the company had replaced many of the striking workers and the labor union representing the workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, told the strikers that they could return to work, bringing an end to the strike. In the mid-1980s, the Marval plant was the largest turkey processing plant in the world, employing about 800 workers. The plant was organized by a local union of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 400, which for many years had enjoyed a good relationship with the company. However, following Marval's acquisition by Rocco, Inc. in 1981, the relationship began to sour. In 1984, the union and company began negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement but could not agree on terms regarding wages and working conditions. In June 1984, the union members voted to reject the company's new collective bargaining proposal and commenced striking on June 2. The strike involved several hundred workers and featured picketing outside of the plant. Additionally, the union organized a boycott, initially local in scope, that eventually spread nationwide with the support of the AFL-CIO. The union filed unfair labor practice charges against the company, but these were dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board. Within a few weeks, the company had replaced most of the striking employees and renewed negotiations in mid-June were unproductive. In early August, the union informed strikers that they could return to work, though they continued with their boycott and sporadic picketing until late 1986. In mid-August 1984, a union decertification drive began at the plant that resulted in the union losing its status as the workers' bargaining unit in October. The union sued the company over this, but the case was dismissed in 1989. Background In 1955, Marval Poultry Company, Inc. purchased a turkey processing plant in Dayton, Virginia, from the Spencer Produce Company.Huffman 2014 64 Several years later, in 1961, a predecessor of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), an affiliate labor union of the AFL-CIO,Carmichael 1984 organized the plant under a local union, Local 400.Huffman 2014 64note In a 2014 article on the strike, academic David C. Huffman said that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) had organized the plant in 1961.Huffman 2014 64 However, the UFCW was formed in 1979, as a merger of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and the Retail Clerks International Union.The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History While the company initially filed a complaint against the union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), both sides enjoyed a relatively good relationship for the next several years.Huffman 2014 64–65 By 1984, the Dayton facility had become the world's largest turkey processing plant in the world.note Attributed to multiple sources.Carmichael 1984 Perl 1984a Perl 1984b Perl 1984e United Press International 1984a 3 Per The Washington Post, the plant was producing about 200 e6lb e6kg off us of turkey annually,Perl 1984c equivalent to over 11 million turkeys.Perl 1984b At the time, it employed about 800 workers.note Sources vary on the number of workers at the Marval facility, including 780,United Press International 1984b 2 800,Perl 1984aPerl 1985 and 900.Perl 1984b Perl 1984e Schwartzman 2013 63 Per Peter Perl, a reporter for The Washington Post, the figure of 800 was given by Robert Wolfe, a spokesperson for Marval.Perl 1984a Statewide, the turkey industry generated about $250 million (equivalent to $US 250 1984 0 c million in US) per year,Perl 1984c with The Washington Post calling Rockingham County, Virginia, the "Turkey Capital of the World".Perl 1984a By this time, the Marval plant was one of only two unionized turkey processing plants in the Shenandoah Valley region,Huffman 2014 63 with the other, owned by the Shenandoah Valley Poultry Company, also being represented by the UFCW.Huffman 2014 65 UFCW Local 400, which was based in Landover, Maryland, represented about 30,000 members in total.Perl 1984a In January 1981, Rocco, Inc. purchased Marval, with the company's new owners being less willing to cooperate with the union than the previous ones.Huffman 2014 65 In May of that year, the company and union negotiated a new labor contract, with UFCW Vice President Bill Sellers saying that major points of contention in the negotiations included insurance and pay.Huffman 2014 65 However, Sellers was overall pleased with the agreement, calling it "a terrific contract".Huffman 2014 65 Around the same time, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, there were several changes to the United States Department of Labor and the NLRB that made the organizations more pro-management in labor disputes,Huffman 2014 65–66 and additionally, public opinion towards unions had become less favorable over the early 1980s.Huffman 2014 68 According to David C. Huffman, a professor of economics at Bridgewater College, these changes may have encouraged the plant's owners to attempt to weaken the union.Huffman 2014 66 Between 1981 and 1984, the company reduced the plant's workforce and increased production,Huffman 2014 66 with the workforce shrinking from about 1,100 to 800.Perl 1984a Beginning in April 1984, the company and union began to negotiate the terms of a new labor contract.Serrin 1985 16 On June 2, 1984, the existing collective bargaining agreement expired, with union members voting to both reject the company's new contract offer and also to perform a strike action.Huffman 2014 66 The vote was unanimous and involved about 400 workers.Perl 1984a Course of the strike Points of contention The strike began on June 2, 1984,Carmichael 1984 Perl 1984c Perl 1984e Serrin 1985 16 with several hundred employees performing a walkout.note Sources vary on the number of strikers. These include 300,Serrin 1985 16United Press International 1984b 2 450,Perl 1984b Perl 1984e Schwartzman 2013 63 500,Perl 1984cPerl 1985 and 800.Perl 1984a Picketing commenced outside of the plant, with one of the picket signs reading "Abraham Lincoln Freed the Slaves. Why Hasn't Marval?".Perl 1984b Over the first day of picketing, the union said that only a few people crossed the picket line and returned to work, while the company told saying that about 45 percent of the plant's workforce reported for work.Perl 1984a Points of contention between the union and management included disagreements over pay and working conditions.Huffman 2014 66–67 Concerning pay, the company was offering a 10¢ (US 10 1984 0¢ in US) hourly raise in the first year of the contract and a 25¢ (US 25 1984 0 c¢ in US) raise in the second year.Huffman 2014 66 In contrast, the union was seeking an hourly wage increase of $1 ($US 1 1984 2 c in US) per year over the course of three years.Huffman 2014 66 At the time, workers at the plant made between $5.20 and $9.10 ($US 5.2 1984 2 c and $US 9.1 1984 2 c in US) per hour,Huffman 2014 66 with an average pay of $5.40 ($US 5.4 1984 2 c in US).Perl 1984a According to the company, the pay was over a dollar more than the average throughout the turkey processing industry in the Southeastern United States.Huffman 2014 66 Concerning working conditions, the union said that the company did not provide adequate medical personnel at the facility and alleged that some workers had had to work while injured.Huffman 2014 66 The union also protested the company's bathroom policy, which required workers to receive a pass from their supervisor.Huffman 2014 66 In order to limit disruptions at the plant, the number of passes issued were limited.Huffman 2014 66 Per Huffman, the bathroom policy and medical personnel issue received more attention from the local media than the pay disputes.Huffman 2014 66 Additionally, Harry Dull, the president of the Shenandoah Valley Council (the regional council of the AFL-CIO), said that working conditions were the major concern expressed by the workers, with a June 1984 report by the UPI listing several allegations from union leaders of a poor working environment.United Press International 1984a 3note Specific allegations from union leaders reported by United Press International included a man being fired for attending a training session of the National Guard, a woman who urinated on herself after she was unable to obtain a bathroom pass having her pay docked, a woman whose request to leave work while her house was on fire being refused, and a woman whose arm was broken while on the job being denied medical attention.United Press International 1984a 3 Concerning the plant, Dull said, "This is the closest thing to a sweatshop you'll ever see".United Press International 1984a 3 In addition to these issues, the union was opposed to two proposals from the company—the elimination of the chief job steward position and a change to the system of union dues that would have allowed for workers to more easily opt out of paying—with UFCW Local 400 leader Thomas McNutt calling the proposals an example of "union-busting".Huffman 2014 66–67 Countering this, the company accused the union of using the strike as a way to bolster their power base and said that most of the union members were not supportive of the strike.United Press International 1984a 3 Further developments thumb|231x231px|UFCW President William H. Wynn (pictured 1983) accused Marval of "impos[ing] oppressive working conditions on its employees" in a statement on July 12, 1984.Perl 1984c By the end of the first week, the company was telling striking employees that they had until the start of the next week to return to work or face the risk of being permanently replaced.Huffman 2014 67 Marval also accused the union of fining strikers who crossed the picket line $1,000 ($US 1,000 1984 0 c in US) and offered to pay any legal costs and provide legal aid to returning workers.Huffman 2014 67 Over the next several weeks, the company hired about 250 replacement workers.Huffman 2014 67 During this time, there were no discussions held between the union and the company.Huffman 2014 67 At the time, strikers were receiving about $40 ($US 40 1984 0 c in US) per week from the union in strike pay.United Press International 1984a 3 In mid-June, the union accused the company of influencing a local food bank to deny requests for food from the families of striking employees,United Press International 1984a 3 though the company denied this.Perl 1984c Subsequently, the union filed unfair labor practice charges against both the company and the food bank.Perl 1984c However, according to a company representative, all of the union's unfair labor practice charges were dismissed by the NLRB by that September.Perl 1984d Alongside the strike, the union initiated a boycott of products produced by Marval.Huffman 2014 66 While this boycott was initially local in scope, it eventually spread nationwide,Huffman 2014 66 and by June 17, boycott efforts were in place along the East Coast of the United States, from Florida to Pennsylvania.United Press International 1984a 3 By the following month, the boycott had received support from the AFL-CIO,Huffman 2014 73 with McNutt saying that about $100,000 ($US 100,000 1984 -3 c in US) per month would be spend on advertising for the boycott.Perl 1984c In mid-July, he said that about six supermarket chains, including Foodarama in the Baltimore metropolitan area and Giant Food in the Washington metropolitan area, had stopped carrying Marval products.Perl 1984cnote This claim was reported in a July 13, 1984, issue of The Washington Post. However, the newspaper also reported that a representative for Giant Food said that, while the company had previously stopped selling Marval products, it had resumed selling by that point.Perl 1984c End of the strike In a UPI report published on June 17, UFCW Vice President Don Cash said that 380 of the plant's 780 workers were on strike, though the company disputed this number, saying that only about 250 workers were still on strike and that over 100 had returned to work.United Press International 1984a 3 The UPI also reported that a mediator of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) was scheduled to oversee renewed talks between the two sides on June 18.United Press International 1984a 3 Discussions were held on June 22 and 23,United Press International 1984b 2 but by this time, the company had replaced most of the striking workers and was unwilling to agree to the concessions, leading the negotiations to break down without an agreement in place.Huffman 2014 67 On July 13, The Washington Post reported that, of the 500 initial workers who went on strike, about 250 had returned to work, while an additional 250 replacement workers had been hired by the company.Perl 1984c In early August, the union ended its picketing and told workers that they could return to work, ending the strike.Huffman 2014 67 In total, the strike lasted 61 days.Huffman 2014 64 Aftermath Union decertification In mid-August, a drive began at the plant to decertify the UFCW as the official bargaining unit for the employees, eventually garnering the support of a majority of the plant workers.Huffman 2014 67–68 As a result, according to an executive at the company, the union was decertified on October 1,Perl 1985 and on October 5, the company informed the UFCW that they no longer represented workers at the plant.Huffman 2014 67–68 The UFCW contended that the company had not acted in a neutral manner during the decertification drive and that, further, an election would be required for the union to be decertified.Huffman 2014 67–68 On October 25, the UFCW filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that they had acted in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by providing gifts to employees as a way of persuading them to support decertification.Huffman 2014 68 In the lawsuit, the union was seeking $2 million ($US 2 1984 0 million in US) in damages.Huffman 2014 68 On March 26, 1985, a regional director for the NLRB charged that Marval had violated labor laws, saying that a director at the company called several employees and requested their assistance in the union decertification process, promising compensation for their actions.Perl 1985 However, the company denied these charges.Perl 1985 In 1989, the lawsuit was dismissed.Huffman 2014 73 Continued boycott By September, most of the strikers had either returned to work or found employment elsewhere, but about 100 individuals continued to engage in some sporadic picketing outside of the plant.Perl 1984d Additionally, the UFCW continued with its boycott of Marval products,Huffman 2014 67 and that month, a union representative said that about $250,000 ($US 250,000 1984 -3 c in US) had been spent on advertising, with an expected increase in coverage to coincide with the Thanksgiving season.Perl 1984d In November, the AFL-CIO launched an advertising campaign urging people to avoid buying Marval turkeys for their Thanksgiving dinner.Carmichael 1984 This included a radio advertisement featuring a jingle called "Turkeybusters", based on the song "Ghostbusters",Carmichael 1984 and the disbursement of about 75,000 $1 ($US 1 1984 2 c in US) rebate coupons to AFL-CIO union members in the Washington metropolitan area who bought non-Marval turkeys.Perl 1984e Additionally, at a news conference, the union criticized Labor Secretary Raymond J. Donovan for promoting anti-union positions and Safeway, a grocery store chain, for threatening to fire union members who wore buttons supporting the boycott.Carmichael 1984 By November 1985, the number of individuals who were still on strike had fallen to 33.Serrin 1985 16 The boycott ended in late 1986.Huffman 2014 73 Legacy The labor dispute was the first strike in the history of Virginia's turkey processing industry.Perl 1984c Perl 1984d Perl 1984e Schwartzman 2013 63 Around the same time that the strike occurred, the Shenandoah Valley Poultry Company's plant was sold to Perdue Farms, and because of the sale, the owners were not legally obligated to recognize the union there.Huffman 2014 65 Academic David C. Huffman has called the strike "one of the most contentious" in the Shenandoah Valley,Huffman 2014 63 and according to his research, it was one of only four strikes recorded by the FMCS to have occurred in the region between 1983 and 2014.Huffman 2014 64 In 2013, sociologist Kathleen C. Schwartzman cited the strike, as well as a successful unionization drive at the Delta Pride catfish processing plant in Mississippi,note For further information, see 1990 Delta Pride strike. as examples of the UFCW's efforts in the Southern United States.Schwartzman 2013 73 The following year, the strike was the subject of an article, written by Huffman, that was published in the Virginia Economic Journal by the Virginia Association of Economists.Augusta Free Press 2015 See also Timeline of strikes in 1984 Notes note References Sources 30em yes January 8, 2015 Bridgewater College professor publishes account of 1984 Dayton poultry strike https://augustafreepress.com/news/bridgewater-college-professor-publishes-account-1984-dayton-poultry-strike/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20230606030401/https://augustafreepress.com/news/bridgewater-college-professor-publishes-account-1984-dayton-poultry-strike/ June 6, 2023 August 19, 2026 Augusta Free Press Augusta Free Press 2015 Carmichael Dan November 15, 1984 The Thanksgiving 'Turkeybusters' https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/15/The-Thanksgiving-Turkeybusters/5956469342800/ August 19, 2026 United Press International United Food and Commercial Workers https://case.edu/ech/articles/u/united-food-and-commercial-workers live https://web.archive.org/web/20170517093106/https://case.edu/ech/articles/u/united-food-and-commercial-workers/ May 17, 2017 August 26, 2026 The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Case Western Reserve University The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Huffman David C. 2014 Labor Relations in the Shenandoah Valley: The Marval Poultry Strike of 1984 https://research.ebsco.com/plink/c20128ee-6bfc-31af-bf7e-37ff6318df77 Virginia Economic Journal Virginia Association of Economists 19 63–73 1085-1046 33275120 Perl Peter June 4, 1984a Va. Turkey Plant Struck Over Working Conditions https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/06/05/va-turkey-plant-struck-over-working-conditions/d3c0c4c6-aa52-4c5e-a4f3-02980966a8e1/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20170828114823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/06/05/va-turkey-plant-struck-over-working-conditions/d3c0c4c6-aa52-4c5e-a4f3-02980966a8e1/ August 28, 2017 August 18, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Perl Peter June 7, 1984b Strike Hits Peaceful Shenandoah https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/08/strike-hits-peaceful-shenandoah/21480eac-4dea-4b8a-82dd-75c20905aa3b/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20260131164351/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/06/08/strike-hits-peaceful-shenandoah/21480eac-4dea-4b8a-82dd-75c20905aa3b/ January 31, 2026 August 18, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Perl Peter July 12, 1984c AFL-CIO Calls for a Boycott of Marval Turkeys https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/07/13/afl-cio-calls-for-a-boycott-of-marval-turkeys/b17f96bf-abf0-4b2c-828e-d0290d165bd5/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20170828101736/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/07/13/afl-cio-calls-for-a-boycott-of-marval-turkeys/b17f96bf-abf0-4b2c-828e-d0290d165bd5/?utm_term=.df4deff8907c August 28, 2017 August 19, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Perl Peter September 14, 1984d AFL-CIO Launches Turkey-Season Assault on Marval Poultry https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/09/14/afl-cio-launches-turkey-season-assault-on-marval-poultry/8b872967-00dc-47df-bc06-31d9caea6c9a/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20170828100108/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/09/14/afl-cio-launches-turkey-season-assault-on-marval-poultry/8b872967-00dc-47df-bc06-31d9caea6c9a/?utm_term=.df3b35b01033 August 28, 2017 August 19, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Perl Peter November 20, 1984e Food Union Escalates Turkey War https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/11/21/food-union-escalates-turkey-war/6d4943f9-6982-460c-bff5-a6e1fb7a9536/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20170828234457/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/11/21/food-union-escalates-turkey-war/6d4943f9-6982-460c-bff5-a6e1fb7a9536/?utm_term=.7253132edcb7 August 28, 2017 August 19, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Perl Peter March 27, 1985 NLRB Says Marval Used Illegal Payoffs To Help Oust Union Va. Turkey Processing Firm Issues Denial https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/03/28/nlrb-says-marval-used-illegal-payoffs-to-help-oust-union-va-turkey-processing-firm-issues-denial/e98c78cc-07a2-4dfe-a189-6bcb0ab5d7f5/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20260819012229/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/03/28/nlrb-says-marval-used-illegal-payoffs-to-help-oust-union-va-turkey-processing-firm-issues-denial/e98c78cc-07a2-4dfe-a189-6bcb0ab5d7f5/ August 19, 2026 August 19, 2026 The Washington Post 0190-8286 2269358 Schwartzman Kathleen C. http://archive.org/details/the-chicken-trail-following-workers-migrants-and-c... The Chicken Trail: Following Workers, Migrants, and Corporations Across the Americas ILR Press 2013 978-0-8014-5116-4 Ithaca, New York 2012027611 893671039 Serrin William William Serrin November 26, 1985 Outside Turkey Plant, Union Is Testing a Boycott https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/26/us/outside-turkey-plant-union-is-testing-a-boycott.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20171123181603/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/26/us/outside-turkey-plant-union-is-testing-a-boycott.html November 23, 2017 August 19, 2026 The New York Times 16 0362-4331 1645522 June 17, 1984a Feathers really flying in turkey strike https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SNH19840617.1.3 August 19, 2026 Suffolk News-Herald 3 Virginia Chronicle LXII 144 United Press International United Press International 1984a June 25, 1984b Turkey strikers fail to agree https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SNH19840625.1.2&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Local+400+AND+Marval+AND+strike+AND+turkey--------# August 25, 2026 Suffolk News-Herald 2 Virginia Chronicle LXII 151 United Press International United Press International 1984b External links https://aspace.ohiohistory.org/repositories/2/resources/34515 United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 400 fliers | Ohio History Connection Category:1980s strikes in the United States Category:1984 in Virginia Category:1984 labor disputes and strikes Category:Consumer boycotts Category:Food processing industry in the United States Category:Labor disputes in Virginia Category:Labor disputes led by the United Food and Commercial Workers Category:Rockingham County, Virginia Category:Turkeys and humans Category:June 1984 in the United States Category:July 1984 in the United States