Edward Morrison

Former Packing House Worker
Smithfield Foods
Tarheel, North Carolina

Campaign: Justice at Smithfield

When Edward Morrison worked at Smithfield Foods his employer considered him less valuable than any one of the 4,000 hogs he man-handled at lightning speed during his 7½ hour shift. But no more.

Edward is now a union organizer trying to unite black and brown workers together in their fight for justice at the world’s largest hog processing plant owned by Smithfield Foods.

It has been 100 years since Upton Sinclair published his groundbreaking book, The Jungle, which described horrendous conditions in the meatpacking industry. While many of the food safety problems no longer exist, the working conditions that Edward faced are eerily reminiscent of that era.

For $11.85 an hour, Edward had to flip over hog carcasses that weighed 250 pounds or more and line them up for the next workers who would quarter them. He faced 500 hogs an hour, which required him to work at a breakneck pace in what he calls a “living hell.” “The heat was intense, I would get terribly dehydrated and exhausted, and the noise was deafening,” he said.

One day Edward’s body couldn’t take it any more, and he seriously injured his knee while on his shift. Surgery followed, but Smithfield only gave Edward 30 days for medical leave. It took more than four months before doctors would let him go back to work. But Smithfield didn’t wait that long – they terminated him after two months.

Adding insult to injury, Smithfield’s workers compensation carrier denied Edward’s claim saying his injury was not due to an accident; it was a result of “routine” duties, therefore he was not covered. This meant that Edward personally owed more than $10,000 in medical bills for an injury caused by job duties demanded by his employer. With limits like that, no wonder Smithfield’s profits were $300 million in 2005.

Edward is fighting back. Now he walks door-to-door talking with Smithfield employees about workers’ rights. He says “the workers need a voice because that line is too fast and unsafe; they need to have the power to get it slowed down – to reduce injuries.”

Edward endured indignity and disrespect while helping the company become so profitable. Now he’s walking tall and feeling proud in his fight for justice at Smithfield.