April 1, 2019

Big Wins for Local 222 Empirical Foods Workers in New Contract

On March 29, about 300 members of UFCW Local 222 at Empirical Foods, Inc. (formerly BPI) in South Sioux City, Neb., ratified a new contract with big wins for workers there.

Thanks to the strength and courage of our members at Local 222, they were able to achieve a new four-year contract that ensures the hard-working women and men at Empirical Foods receive the pay increases they’ve earned and can take time off (up to 52 weeks) when they need to take care of a sick or injured service member. The new contract also provides workers up to 90 days to return to work with renewed work authorizations without loss of seniority, a significant improvement from the previous contract.

“This is an unbelievable contract. I never thought we could accomplish all these changes,” said Kimberly Orellana, who served as a member of the bargaining committee. “My coworkers are very happy with the wages and various improvements.”