The Mt. Olive Pickle Co., the nation's second largest pickle packer, has landed on the AFL-CIO's nationwide "Do Not Buy!" list because it refuses to recognize the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) as the union that represents field workers on the farms that supply the North Carolina firm with the cucumbers it pickles and packs.

Most of Mt. Olive's pickles and relishes are sold under its own name in groceries and supermarkets across much of the U.S., particularly in the South. The company also packs pickles sold by the Food Lion and Harris Teeter chains under those firms' own labels.

In the area around Mt. Olive, N.C., more than 2,100 migrant and seasonal workers signed union cards during an organizing drive kicked off last summer with a 70-mile march through North Carolina pickle-growing areas, according to FLOC. Pay, working conditions, and the workers' dignity are the principal organizing issues, according to union sources.

GCIU Pres. James J. Norton noted that with 12-hour, six-seven-day work weeks and no enforced minimum wage standards and substandard housing, "the workers need the help of union brothers and sisters to obtain for themselves the chance for a decent and secure standard of living."

More than 60 religious, labor and community organizations have endorsed the Mt. Olive organizing effort. They include the National Council of Churches and its North Carolina branch, the National Farm Worker Ministry, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

FLOC currently has contracts covering field workers on farms in Michigan and Ohio that supply the Campbell Soup Co., Heinz Co. and Vlasic Corp., the nation's number one pickle packer. The contracts are three-way agreements among the union, the processing companies and the farmers.

Norton called on GCIU members to help the struggling workers by boycotting Mt. Olive products and by writing the company, "informing management of the decision to boycott the Mt. Olive products until they sit down at the bargaining table with the workers' union."

The address is: William Bryan, president; Mt. Olive Pickle Co.; Cucumber & Vine; Mt. Olive, N.C. 28365.