CHICAGO (Reuters) - With labor contracts at some large U.S. meat companies set to expire later this year, health-care benefits is expected to be one of the biggest hurdles in upcoming negotiations, a top union official said on Wednesday.
"Health care is always a fight. We are going to be very aggressive at protecting the health benefits of our members," Mark Lauritsen, a vice president at the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said, speaking at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.
"That is going to be the biggest fight. Unfortunately, health care costs are eating up more and more and more of the real income in this country," he said.
Labor contracts are expiring at Hormel Foods Corp (HRL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)., Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)., privately held Swift & Co., and ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), he said.
While wage rates often vary, he said a recent deal at a Tyson plant was for $12 per hour, an increase of 50 cents an hour, and he expects that to be a starting point for some of the upcoming talks.
"We have the entire Hormel chain up in September. Hormel is one of the few companies that negotiates with our union chainwide," Lauritsen said.
Negotiations at Tyson Foods are often tough, "but by and large, we tend to come to some agreement by the end of the day," he said.
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