International Business News - Smithfield http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif The National Labor Relations Board is holding off on officially declaring that the world's largest pork slaughterhouse has a labor union. The NLRB was expected Friday to certify last week's vote backing a union at the Smithfield Packing Co. plant. But NLRB assistant regional director Howard Neidig said Friday the federal agency will wait until next week to certify the United Food and Commercial Workers as the union for the plant's approximately 4,600 production and maintenance workers. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081219/nlrb-holds-off-on-certifying-smithfield-union-vote.htm Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:43:33 EST Pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. said Wednesday it completed the merger of its European subsidiary and Campofrio Alimentacion SA, the largest processed meats company in Spain. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081217/smithfield-completes-deal-with-spanish-meat-maker.htm Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:23:18 EST Shares of Smithfield Foods Inc. tumbled on Monday after an analyst sharply lowered her earnings estimates for the pork maker's fiscal 2009 year on anticipated higher hog raising costs and interest expense. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081215/smithfield-shares-fall-on-lower-fy09-estimates.htm Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:20:25 EST Organized labor got a big boost in the country's least unionized state when workers at the world's largest hog processing plant voted to unionize. The United Food and Commercial Workers union and Smithfield, Va.-based Smithfield Foods Inc. had tussled ever since the Smithfield Packing Co. plant in rural North Carolina opened in 1992. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081212/union-win-at-nc-pork-plant-a-rare-victory.htm Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:56:34 EST Workers at the world's largest hog processing plant voted Thursday to bring in a union to represent them. About 4,600 of Smithfield Packing Co.'s 5,000 employees in the tiny town of Tar Heel were eligible to vote over two days of balloting overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081211/union-vote-results-coming-at-huge-nc-pork-plant.htm Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:06:19 EST Employees at Smithfield Packing Co.'s massive North Carolina hog slaughterhouse on Wednesday began two days of voting that will decide whether unions will get a rare boost in the country's least-unionized state. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081210/smithfield-ufcw-start-vote-on-union.htm Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:18:18 EST A 16-year confrontation over union representation at the world's largest pork slaughterhouse in the country's least-unionized state comes down to a two-day vote this week. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081209/union-vote-begins-wednesday-at-huge-nc-pork-plant.htm Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:40:57 EST Shares of Smithfield Foods Inc. soared Monday as the broader market rallied and investors continued to cheer the company's second-quarter results that showed industry trends are improving for the nation's largest pork producer. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081208/smithfield-foods-shares-continue-to-gain.htm Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:35:24 EST Improving demand and curtailed production could boost shares of the nation's largest pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc., an analyst said Monday. Deutsche Bank analyst Christina McGlone upgraded shares of Smithfield to "Buy" from "Hold" on improved demand for U.S. pork and smaller-than-expected supply. Companies that make meat have been trying to cut production to help boost pricing, as an oversupply of meat on the market has depressed pricing. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081208/ahead-of-the-bell-smithfield-foods-upgraded.htm Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:49:38 EST Investors boosted shares of Smithfield Foods Inc. Friday after the pork processor indicated it may have turned the corner on sliding profits and said it would be able to get help from its lenders if it were to violate its debt covenants. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081205/smithfield-indicates-better-future-shares-rise.htm Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:43:07 EST A look at the key dates in the fight over unionizing Smithfield Food Inc.'s slaughterhouse and processing plant in Tar Heel, N.C.--October 1992: Smithfield Foods Inc. opens world's largest hog processing plant in Tar Heel, about 80 miles south of Raleigh. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081205/key-dates-in-fight-to-unionize-smithfield-plant.htm Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:55:49 EST A noisy and often caustic 16-year effort to unionize the world's largest hog slaughterhouse--a journey that's included disputed elections, immigration raids and venomous allegations of both company intimidation and union racketeering--is quietly headed toward an end. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081205/smithfield-union-quietly-near-organizing-vote.htm Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:06:45 EST Shares of Smithfield Foods Inc. soared on Thursday even as the pork producer reported a 76 percent drop in its fiscal second-quarter earnings due to high feed costs. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081204/smithfield-foods-vouches-for-its-liquidity.htm Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:34:50 EST Pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. on Thursday reported a 76 percent drop in its fiscal second-quarter earnings, as high feed costs linked to skyrocketing grain prices hurt its hog and Butterball turkey operations. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/188875-earns-smithfield-foods.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081204/smithfield-foods-2q-profit-drops-on-grain-costs.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081204/smithfield-foods-2q-profit-drops-on-grain-costs.htm Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:52:56 EST Smithfield Foods Inc. reports results for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday before the market opens. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081202/earnings-preview-smithfield-expected-to-post-loss.htm Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:57:35 EST An analyst slashed his price target and earnings estimates for Smithfield Foods Inc., saying the nation's largest pork producer will be hurt because the problems facing the protein industry will last longer than previously thought. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081202/analyst-slashes-price-target-on-smithfield-foods.htm Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:18:14 EST Smithfield Packing Co. and the United Food and Commercial Workers say employees at the company's massive North Carolina hog slaughterhouse will decide next month whether to unionize. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081118/smithfield-union-announce-december-union-vote.htm Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:18:14 EST Pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. said Friday shareholders of its European subsidiary have approved a merger with Campofrio Alimentacion SA, the largest processed meats company in Spain. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081024/smithfield-shareholders-ok-spains-campofrio-deal.htm Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:37:08 EDT Smithfield Foods Inc. said Thursday it has completed the sale of its beef business to Brazilian beef giant JBS SA. The deal worth $565 million in cash received clearance by regulators on Monday when they said they wouldn't challenge the merger, which pairs Smithfield Beef Group Inc., the nation's fifth-largest beef producer, with JBS, the nation's third-largest beef producer. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081023/smithfield-foods-completes-beef-sale-to-jbs.htm Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:15:41 EDT A Deutsche Bank analyst downgraded Smithfield Foods Inc., citing worries about demand for U.S. pork domestically and overseas. Christina McGlone wrote in a note to investors late Monday that the nation's largest pork producer was being downgraded to 'Hold' from 'Buy' as its shares offer modest return potential on a new price target of $16 a share. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081021/analyst-smithfield-downgraded-on-hog-demand.htm Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:39:45 EDT