Holston bishop had role in pickle dispute
By Annette Bender
Bishop James Swanson's personal experience - as an African-American steelworker in Houston during the 1970s - led him to support a United Methodist boycott against a North Carolina pickle company.
Swanson was a member of the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) in 1999, when the United Methodist agency first considered supporting a boycott against Mt. Olive Pickle Co. Now resident bishop of Holston Conference, Swanson was previously a member of the South Georgia Conference, serving on the GBCS from 1996 to 2004.
The boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Co. by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee - an action supported by the United Methodist Church - ended with the signing of two agreements Sept. 16. But the agreements didn't come until years after Swanson and his colleagues had wrestled with the issue, leading the 2004 General Conference to vote in favor of the boycott this past spring.
The boycott came as a last resort, Swanson said, when Mt. Olive initially failed to negotiate for improved wages and working conditions for farm workers who produce cucumbers eventually processed by the North Carolina company.
"We were trying to create a brand-new model for resolving issues between workers and ownership companies, especially in context of the Christian community," Swanson said of his work with the GBCS. Because Mt. Olive is led by President Bill Bryan, a United Methodist himself, and because Christians are called to seek reconciliation, Swanson said that he and other church leaders resisted the boycott for as long as possible.
Swanson also had cause for concern because he was a candidate for the episcopacy this past spring, and leading the denomination to support a controversial boycott could have been harmful to his election.
"But a bishop has got to be fair and just and honest in how he deals with things, and if you can't show that before you?re elected, I doubt if you're going to show it afterwards," he said.
A steelworker from 1969 to 1977, Swanson said he has a personal concern for "powerless people." "Being a victim of racism and oppression myself, how in the world could I participate in oppressing someone else?" he said.
On Sept. 16, Swanson and other church leaders' efforts paid off. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the North Carolina Growers Association signed a collective bargaining agreement that covers an estimated 8,500 federal H-2A guest workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries who work on about 1,000 farms. It does not cover workers who may be in the state illegally.
In a separate agreement with the union to settle the boycott, Mt. Olive agreed to increase payments for cucumbers in North Carolina and Ohio by 2.25 percent annually for the next three years, to provide a 3 percent annual supplement to growers providing workers' compensation insurance coverage, and to expand its code of conduct for North Carolina suppliers and growers.
The union contract is believed to be the first in North Carolina agriculture and for an H-2A employer. "I am one pickle packer who is glad to be out of a pickle," Bill Bryan of Mt. Olive told United Methodist News Service. "It's a big relief to have the boycott behind us so our full attention can be focused on packing quality pickles."
Although the pickle boycott is now over, Swanson said that Holston members should educate themselves about United Methodist boycotts and lend their support.
"My daughter and I both love Mt. Olive pickles," he said, laughing, "but I went on and honored the boycott.
"A lot of folks don't realize that many decisions we make in the United Methodist Church are made because of what our Book of Discipline and 'Social Principles' say," he added. "We make some very strong statements about how we feel about organized labor and the rights of people. We need to do a better job of helping people understand why we make our decisions."
Bishop Swanson was recently re-elected to the GBCS for 2005-2008, and at press time, was expected to be elected chair of the GBCS Board of Trustees. Action on the Taco Bell boycott - as well as monitoring of the Mt. Olive agreement - will be considered at the GBCS Board of Directors meeting this month.
Updates on Taco Bell boycott proceedings - including the resolution passed at General Conference - will be provided in the newspaper or online in the near future.
Suzanne C. Hickerson and United Methodist News Service contributed to this report.
top
|
Bishop's Column
Cover Story:
Trading Spaces
and
Presidential Race
Inside:
Thanks, Holston
Tacos Tonight?
Apples & Pizza
National & World News
Back to The Call Home Page
|
|
