The Methuen Distribution Center opened in the early fall of 1990, as Shaw's attempt to move away from organized labor. The warehouse was being run by a third party company named Exel Logistics.  Almost immediately union organizers began to show up and express interest in organizing the MDC employees. Late in 1992, Local 791 organizers began to not only show up, but to take interest in the workers as people, not just another source of revenue. They visited our homes and answered all of our questions. In the early summer of 1993, after many months of company pressure and threats, the required number of cards had been signed and an election was held. The outcome of the vote showed in clear terms that the workers were ready to take a stand against the unfair practices we had been living under for many years. The fight for our first contract lasted roughly two years. The outcome was the dismissal of Exel Logistics in the summer of 1995 with Shaw's taking full control of the MDC. Our first contract was ratified in the early winter of that year. We are now on the verge of negotiating our third contract (this does not count the contract we were forced to accept), and are looking forward to another tough fight against corporate greed. The workers of the MDC are more then partially responsible for the success of this company and should be compensated justly. In the history of the MDC, the workers have never asked for anything that wasn't deserved or worked for.