Mt. Olive Boycott Resolved

The following letter was sent by George Reed of the N.C. Council of Churches to friends at Community UCC on Sept. 16, 2004. The letter describes the culmination of events related to the long standing Mt. Olive pickle boycott.

Photo from the press conference at Community United Church of Christ where a three-way agreement was signed between FLOC, Mt. Olive Pickle Company, and the North Carolina Growers Association.  Seated from left to right: Baldemar Velasquez, President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Stan Eury, Director of the North Carolina Growers Association, Bill Bryan, President of Mount Olive Pickle Company. Standing from left to right:  Bishop Gossman, Virginia Nesmith, Executive Director, National Farm Worker Ministry, and Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches. (Photo by Denise Cumbee Long)

Friends of Sr. Evelyn Mattern:

I want to be sure that you know of this morning's historic agreement between the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Mt. Olive Pickle Company, and the NC Growers Association. Several of you were at the signing, and others will have seen it in the News & Observer, but it might be news for the rest of you.
 
The agreement will allow thousands of farm workers in NC to join FLOC and receive the benefits of union membership. Mt. Olive will increase what it pays for cucumbers and offer a financial incentive for growers to provide workers comp for farm workers. Among the benefits for workers will be better pay, grievance procedures, and even bereavement leave (if a close relative dies in another country). And the almost six-year boycott of Mt. Olive's pickles comes to an end.
 
Of course, this was a day for which Evelyn had prayed long and worked hard. Almost everyone from the faith community with whom I talked this morning mentioned her in their first words to me. Today was a clear example of her life bearing fruit even after her passing.
 
Peace to you,
George