Workers at Wayne-Sanderson Farms in Hammond, LA Defeat Decertification Petition
HAMMOND, LOUISIANA – This week, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 455 members at the Wayne-Sanderson Farms plant in Hammond, Louisiana, voted to retain their union representation after a months-long campaign by anti-unionists who sought decertification.
“Having a union is one of the best parts of the job at Wayne-Sanderson,” said Carl Cummings, steward at the Wayne-Sanderson Farms plant in Hammond. “We have a contract that protects us and provides us with benefits like paid vacation, annual raises, and more. We’re proud to be UFCW Local 455 members and to have millions of UFCW brothers and sisters who’ve got our backs. Now we’re excited to use our power and start bargaining for our next contract and make it even better.”
UFCW Local 455 has represented workers at the Wayne-Sanderson Farms plant in Hammond, LA, and secured strong contracts with safety protections, pay increases, and benefits for over 40 years. In 2016, when Hammond was hit by historic floods, UFCW Local 455 stepped in and provided disaster relief checks to its members.
“UFCW members at the Wayne-Sanderson Farms plant in Hammond stood firm and voted to keep their union representation because they wanted to preserve the guaranteed raises, safety protections, and benefits that come with it,” said UFCW Local 455 President W. Brandon Hopkins. “Their votes defeated a billionaire-backed anti-worker organization intent on silencing their voice on the job. We look forward to working with our members at Wayne-Sanderson to agree on a strong new contract that puts more money in their pockets to support them and their families.”
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation represented the employee who filed two decertification petitions at the plant in Hammond in 2025, after years of repeated attempts to get rid of union protections. Every time outside groups or management have attempted to eliminate union representation, workers have rejected it. UFCW Local 455 members will now turn to bargaining as their current contract is set to expire on Nov. 30, 2025.
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UFCW Local 455 is part of the UFCW International, the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in cannabis, grocery, meatpacking, food processing, health care, retail, and other essential industries in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.
