By Doug Cunningham

The United Food and Commercial Workers says it won’t be bullied by a lawsuit filed against the union by Smithfield Foods. The suit accuses the union of conducting a public smear campaign to injure Smithfield economically with the goal of getting the company to recognize the union. The UFCW says the suit is baseless. The union for years has waged a union organizing campaign at Smithfield. The UFCW says it’s well documented that Smithfield has abused the law in its treatment of workers for more than a decade. The UFCW says Smithfield is using what it calls this frivolous lawsuit to try to “shield its abusive conduct from public exposure”.