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Immigration raids help union organize at NC pork plant

http://66.225.205.104/JR20090717.mp3

After a 15 year fight, employees at the world's largest pork plant are now working under a union contract for the first time. Two weeks ago, the majority of 5,000 workers at the Smithfield slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, North Carolina approved a four-year contract that guarantees basics like sick leave and holiday pay. The plant is about 80 miles south of Raleigh. And the labor contract is even more significant considering North Carolina has one of the lowest rates of union workers in the country. But a new report out today suggests the labor victory in Smithfield had more to do with an immigration raid at the plant than the hard work of union organizers. WFAE's Julie Rose spoke with Jerry Kammer, a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and author of the new report.