UFCW to host town hall event involving anti-union tactics at Danville's Viscofan

On August 26, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union and UFCW Local 700 will hold a town hall event about the anti-union worker tactics deployed by Viscofan, a meat casings processing company, in Danville, Ill.

The event will include special guests, Mayor Rickey Williams and State Rep. Brandun Schweizer, alongside testimonies from former Viscofan workers and a detailed presentation of issues at Viscofan from UFCW officials. Following the presentation, community members will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage with Viscofan workers and UFCW leaders.

The event is free and open to the public.

According to a press release from the UFCW after a years-long campaign of unlawful, anti-union behavior by Viscofan, the company abruptly announced on May 19, 2025, with no warning or notice, that it was unilaterally withdrawing union recognition from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Shortly afterwards, Viscofan told workers that they would be losing their union health insurance on June 1, with less than two weeks' notice. Viscofan ceased all contributions to the union’s health care plan.

The UFCW and Viscofan had been negotiating a successor contract for the prior five months and were scheduled to meet in June before Viscofan's May 19 announcement. The UFCW reports this is an unlawful maneuver by Viscofan, and the UFCW has filed grievances and unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Viscofan for unilaterally withdrawing union recognition.

Viscofan’s anti-union tactics of pressuring people into not supporting their union have persisted for years, and the company has now resorted to extreme measures that violate workers’ federally protected labor rights.