Thread: Chicago Immigration Raid Leaves Swiss Baker Scrambling to Restaff 800 workers

Chicago bakery loses 800 workers after immigration raid

The raid cost the company $21.6 million.


ESTHER YU HSI LEE NOV 28, 2017, 11:00 AM

An immigration raid at a Chicago bakery lost one-third of its workers earlier this year, with roughly 800 workers who didn’t have “sufficient documentation,” Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Aryzta AG Chief Executive Officer Kevin Toland said the company faces pressure to raise wages and has a long process ahead to replace the 35 percent of workers lost during the raids at Cloverhill Bakery, the publication reported. The company supplies hamburger buns for the McDonald’s Corporation and single-package products for vending machines.

“It’s proceeding very, very slowly because it’s like having a brand new factory and a brand new workforce,” Chief Executive Officer Kevin Toland said on the call, according to Bloomberg News.

“That’s presenting a lot of challenges, as you can imagine.”
Aryzta AG company — the Zurich-based food service company with various operations on five continents and in the United States– wrote in its 2017 annual report released in October that it faced a “significant labour-related business disruption” at the Cloverfield facilities in Chicago when the raids took place in June and July. The company insisted that the labor force came from a third-party staffing agency so they were unable to check the legal status of their paperwork.

The loss of 800 workers with “significant knowledge and experience of the baking process” has meant not only decreased production from the baking facilities, but a seven percent decline in sales over the summer, Aryzta AG said, noting that the disruption incurred a loss of about $21.6 million for the company.

Earlier this year, the president signed executive orders on immigration to ramp up the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants. Those orders expanded the type of crimes punishable by deportation and helped to embolden federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to pursue undocumented immigrants without criminal records.

Last month, ICE director Thomas Homan said his agency would crack down harder on worksite enforcement, or efforts to detain more immigrants at workplaces by prosecuting employers “who knowingly harbor the illegal aliens” and “detain[ing] and remov[ing]” the immigrants themselves. Enforcement operations will take place more frequently at national food service chains, according to an internal ICE document obtained by The Daily Beast last week.

Millions of undocumented immigrants work in the food preparation and service industry, with a higher population in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Various workplace raids have taken place in previous administrations, but they dropped off during the Obama administration when ICE shifted its priority from the workers to the employers.

https://thinkprogress.org/chicago-ba...-90c8b049eea1/

Illinois bakery that makes McDonald’s buns loses 800 workers in immigration raid

BY COMPILED BY ELIZABETH DONALD
edonald@bnd.com

NOVEMBER 28, 2017 03:58 PM
UPDATED 3 HOURS 2 MINUTES AGO

A Chicago bakery that makes buns for McDonald’s lost 800 workers — about one-third of its workforce — after an immigration raid and was struggling to replace them.

Aryzta AG CEO Kevin Toland said the company was trying to replace 35 percent of its workers after a raid at Cloverhill Bakery in Chicago, according to Bloomberg News. The Swiss-based company bakes hamburger buns for McDonald’s Corp. and other fast-food chains and supermarkets.

The company now struggles to find enough workers and will have to increase its wages — what Toland called “like having a brand new factory and brand new workforce.”

The workers were hired by a staffing agency, according to company officials, and Aryzta officials were unaware of “the extent of the risk that existed to the business.” They could not verify the workers’ documents during the raid, which occurred in September.

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article186935513.html

March 19, 2017

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Hostess to buy Cloverhill facility that lost 800 workers in immigration raid

Greg Trotter Contact Reporter Chicago Tribune

Hostess Brands will acquire the Cloverhill bakery on Chicago’s Northwest Side that was the site of a massive immigration raid last year, Hostess said Thursday.

Aryzta, the Swiss parent company of Cloverhill, announced agreements to sell its Cloverhill facilities in two separate deals.

Hostess will acquire the Chicago bakery, including the Cloverhill and Big Texas brands;

Bimbo Bakeries USA will acquire a facility in Cicero, according to Aryzta. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Chicago immigration raid leaves bakery scrambling to rehire after 800 workers lost »

The immigration crackdown at the Chicago bakery, first reported by Aryzta executives in September, resulted in a loss of 800 workers, about one-third of the workforce at the facility, hurting production and sales. Acquiring the 137,000-square-foot bakery in the Galewood neighborhood will allow Hostess to expand its breakfast baked-goods offerings, including honey buns and Danish pastries, and bolster its private label partnerships, Hostess said in a news release Thursday.

The Chicago bakery already was a significant production site for Hostess, the company said.

“This strategic acquisition allows us to bring important product manufacturing in-house as we expand and drive growth in our breakfast product portfolio,” said Bill Toler, Hostess CEO, in the release. “In addition, this purchase will enable Hostess to forgo in-house capital investments and create significant value over the next few years.”

A Hostess spokeswoman didn’t return calls and emails seeking more information on its plans and the impact on the workforce.

It’s also not yet clear what plans Bimbo has for the Cicero facility. A Bimbo spokesman couldn’t be reached.

The Cloverhill business has Chicago roots dating back to 1961. Aryzta acquired Cloverhill in 2014.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...201-story.html

Look at the welfare and food stamps roles...plenty to go to work and get them off the dole.

One parent can work days and one parent can work nights!

E-Verify doesn't prevent many companies from hiring undocumented workers

Grupo Bimbo

Hostess execs: More automation coming this summer at Cloverhill bakery in Chicago



May 10, 2018

Hostess plans to bring more automation this summer to its Cloverhill bakery on Chicago’s Northwest Side as part of an effort to turn around the money-losing business, company executives said Wednesday.

More automation could translate to layoffs at the bakery, though none have yet been announced. A company spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to requests for information. Hostess — maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other brands — bought the bakery and its brands from Swiss company Aryzta earlier this year for about $25 million after an immigration crackdown decimated Cloverhill's workforce and...


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