Peabody meatpacking firm will no longer recognize union

Oct. 13—PEABODY — A Peabody meatpacking company whose brands include Bell and Evans chicken and certified Angus beef will no longer recognize or negotiate with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which had won an election last year to represent full and part-time production and maintenance employees.

Bertolino Foods, which moved its headquarters to a new plant on Fifth Street in Peabody from Boston last year, withdrew its recognition of UFCW Local 1445 after a campaign assisted by a national "right to work" advocacy group.

The Virginia-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation touted the effort in a press release on Tuesday, announcing that the organization had provided assistance to employees in having "booted" the union.

Bertolino Foods itself did not return a call for comment on the development on Tuesday.

The union's local, and a national UFCW media relations representative did not respond to emails requesting comment on the matter. The attorney who represented the union during last year's elections was not available.

Bertolino Foods was formed through the mergers of three entities, Frank Bertolino Beef, F.B. Packing and Adams, Chapman Co. Poultry, which distributes Bell & Evans products, last year, according to a press release issued by the company at that time. "We look forward to taking our company to the next level," CEO Leo Bertolino said in the release announcing the move and merger.

The union had won authorization to represent workers at the new facility in an election last September, according to National Labor Relations Board records.

The press release from the National Right to Work group characterized negotiations between the UFCW and Bertolino Foods as having "dragged on for almost a year."

The advocacy group says it was an employee, identified as Jenifer Sedano, who contacted it about withdrawing the authorization for UFCW to act as the workers' representative. In August, Sedano presented the company with a petition signed by 31 of the 42 workers who were part of the bargaining unit.

Contact information for Sedano could not be located.

It often takes more than a year for newly-recognized union bargaining units to negotiate a contract, however. In June, Bloomberg Law, a news and information service, offered an estimated average of 409 days based on National Labor Relations Board election data and its own data.

The National Right to Work group describes its mission as assisting employees who, it contends, have had their rights violated by "compulsory unionism abuses."

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@gloucestertimes.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis