Sunday, September 14, 2008

Nothing’s Cooking in Paula Deen’s Kitchen

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Guest article by Curt Braman, from Cincinnati Workers Center & Day Labor Organizing Project

Michelle Obama and Paula Deen, two well known women with very different relationships to the Labor Movement, met in Norfolk, Va. on Friday to tape an episode of Food Network’s “Paula’s Party.”

"The wife of Democrat Barack Obama got cozy with Deen in the kitchen during a recent taping of the Savannah celebrity cook’s TV show “Paula’s Party,” scheduled to air on the cable network Sept. 20. Michelle Obama and Deen swapped stories about their families’ favorite meals as they cooked fried shrimp and french fries at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., where the network converted a cafeteria into a TV kitchen.”

Ms. Deen, the so-called first lady of Southern cooking, is the national spokesperson for Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer and processor in the world. Smithfield’s Tar Heel, NC Packing Plant has long be recognized as one the country’s worst sweatshops. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have been involved in a bitter organizing campaign at Tar Heel since 1994. Numerous Federal Court and National Labor Relation Board Rulings have found Smithfield in violation of Fair Labor Practices, as well as, Safety and Civil Rights Violations. Even Human Rights Watch reports in 2000 and 2005 detail multiple violations of human rights standards in Tar Heel.

UFCW and the Eastern North Carolina Workers’ Center, under the umbrella group Justice At Smithfield ( http://www.smithfieldjustice.com ), have led a national effort to pressure the meat packing giant to recognize its employees right to organize. Cities, community organizations and faith based groups across the country have passed resolutions or otherwise endorsed the campaign. A national call to boycott products processed at Tar Hell has been widely embraced.

Among other tactical decisions, workers and supporters have confronted Ms. Deen at her Savannah Ga. restaurant and at stops of her most recent Book Tour. They have asked for her to meet with Smithfield workers to hear their stories. Ms. Deen has refused. In several cities, local media outlets asked her about the struggle at Tar Heel. This example from Savannah television is typical: ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nLqEdjYTgE )

“When asked directly, “If it is somehow found out down the road that Smithfield is intimidating their workers, would you ever pull your name or not be associated with the company?” Deen responds, “You know, all of us in America who work, we all have some complaints about our work. You know it’s called work for a reason. It’s not called play so there will always be complaints about our work place. . .I am not the one to solve union issues.”

Ms. Obama is the wife of a presidential candidate who has received massive campaign contributions and volunteer support from UFCW and all of organized labor. UFCW was an early endorser of her husband’s, Barack, primary run. Senator Obama spoke at the national UFCW annual conference in April. Labor’s support of Obama is based on the presumption that Democrats are friendlier to labor than are Republicans, and the Senator’s strong support of the Employee Free Choice Act, ( http://www.ufcw.org/voteufcw ) a tool that many unions feel can revitalized the labor movement.

It seems reasonable that both Senator and Ms. Obama (or their staffs) would be aware of the ongoing crisis at Tar Heel, and would have certainly been aware of Ms. Deen highly paid job as spokesperson for Smithfield before green lighting the appearance on her show. That this “Cook Off” is mutually beneficial is beyond doubt. Ms. Deen gets higher ratings in this latest exploitation of the domestic side of political spouses; and Ms. Obama gets exposure to the down home cooks who make up “Paula’s Parties” viewers. For the workers at Tar Heel it’s just business as usual. I’ll be watching on the 20th to see if Ms. Obama asks about Smithfield’s horrible labor practices or if the only mention of the company is in the recipes.

http://www.allyourtv.com/images/p/paulasparty/episodes/2008/september/09-20-2008/michelle_obama.jpg

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