SELBYVILLE — Employees at Mountaire Farms’ Selbyville processing plant will have the opportunity later this month to vote to remove or keep United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 27, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

An employee-led petition last month was accepted by the NLRB, which sets in motion the process to let employees vote to remove the UFCW as their representative, Mountaire announced Monday afternoon in a press release.

The mail-in ballot will be sent to employees on Nov. 18 and will be due back to the NLRB by 3 p.m. Dec. 16.

“This has been a long process for our employees to have their voices heard,” said Mountaire President Phillip Plylar. “We support our employees and their right to freely choose whether they want a union or not.”

There are approximately 750 employees in UFCW bargaining unit positions at the Selbyville plant, according to Mountaire spokeswoman Catherine Bassett.

Selbyville is the only processing plant owned by Mountaire Farms where unions are present. These unions have been part of the plant since it was purchased by Mountaire in 1977.

Last summer, employees asked for decertification of the UFCW but were denied the option due to a technicality. A mail-in ballot was held but the union filed numerous challenges and ultimately, the NLRB threw out the vote without counting it.

This fall was the first opportunity employees had to again ask for an election.

In response to the NLRB’s April 21 decision, the United Food Commercial Workers stated the ruling in favor of Delaware poultry workers with UFCW Local 27 rejected a “right-wing” effort to strip union rights away from Mountaire Farms employees at its Selbyville plant.

UFCW Local 27 represents over 22,000 members in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.