Thread: Fresh Direct immigration audit spurs staff walkout

ICE Audit Empties Grocer’s ILLEGAL Workforce

Fresh Direct immigration audit spurs staff walkout
Nathan Duke

Nearly 100 warehouse workers walked off the job at Fresh Direct last week after federal immigration officials initiated an audit of the Long Island City-based grocery distributor, the president of a Teamsters local that has been trying to unionize the workers said.

The workers, most of whom were in their 30s or 40s, left the Fresh Direct warehouse on Borden Avenue in Long Island City in early December after they quit or were suspended because they could not fill out paperwork required for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement audit, Teamsters 805 President Sandy Pope said. The employees, many of whom could not pick up their paychecks after the walkout, could not prove they were authorized to work in the United States, she said.

“This was very sudden,â€

I guess that's another Broke A_S food chain I will not go too

Union Protests ‘Atmosphere of Fear’ at FreshDirect
By Sewell Chan



Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union protesting FreshDirect’s ousting of immigrant workers. (Photo: Christian Hansen for The New York Times)Nearly two weeks after FreshDirect let go of scores of immigrant workers, political leaders, labor organizers and other supporters of the workers rallied outside the company’s warehouse and headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, this afternoon, accusing the company of ousting the workers to foil a coming unionization vote.

FreshDirect, which has witnessed a huge increase in business since its first delivery in 2002, has become extraordinarily popular, especially among busy Manhattan residents who consider home grocery delivery essential. Although the company’s customers have tended toward the affluent — unlike, say, the working-class population that wants Pathmark to stay on the Lower East Side. Most of FreshDirect’s warehouse workers are Latino; a sizable number of its drivers and delivery workers are African-American.

On Dec. 9, FreshDirect began forcing out dozens of employees at its warehouse, at 23-30 Borden Avenue. But how many employees were dismissed — and why — remain subjects of bitter dispute.

FreshDirect has cited a letter it received on Nov. 30 from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The letter warned FreshDirect that the agency had scheduled a Dec. 10 review of employment records to verify that employees are eligible to work in this country.

But two unions that are seeking to organize the roughly 900 warehouse workers — whose ranks have now been depleted — believe that FreshDirect actually sought the government review, as a means of disrupting a union election scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

On those two days, the warehouse workers are scheduled to choose whether to form a union, and if so, whether to join Local 805 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters or Local 348 of the United Food and Commercial Workers. Local 805 has been trying to unionize the warehouse workers since the summer; Local 348 won an election last year to represent about 500 drivers and other workers who deliver the food, and now wants to add the warehouse workers.

The clash between the two unions and the dismissal of the many workers have created a sense of panic and turmoil at FreshDirect, as Tom Robbins of The Village Voice reported this week.

“There’s an atmosphere of fear and terror that’s been created by the employer during this voting process,â€

(quote)

December 21, 2007, 11:48 am

Pressure Mounts as FreshDirect Turmoil Rises

By Sewell Chan

Several leading public officials — including the city comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, and the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer — gathered on the steps of City Hall this morning for a rally to protest the departure of immigrant workers from FreshDirect, the online grocery delivery service based in Queens.

The rally, organized by the New York City Central Labor Council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., is the latest volley in a mounting protest against the company, which forced out at least 100 workers this month in advance of a unionization election and a review by federal immigration authorities.

Today, Mr. Thompson and United States Representative Nydia M. Velázquez, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, sent a letter to Julie L. Meyers, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security who oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They accused the agency of interfering with the unionization drive and demanding that the agency hold off on the review.

Also today, a representative of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York weighed in on the dispute. “The recent turmoil with FreshDirect and its workers is an obvious illustration of the need for comprehensive immigration reform that is just and humane,â€

[b]It’s very suspicious - the timing is very strange,â€

Shouldn't we be concerned about all of the people handling food that have not undergone the required health screenings generally required when legally entering. Dollar above safety, food safety in this case.

Luke 2:1-21

They have also said that the company, which is privately held, has yet to turn a profit, a claim Mr. Merced said he does not believe.

If they can't make a profit with illegal employees, they never will. They deserve to go out of business.

FRESH DIRECT WILL NOW HAVE TO HIRE LEGAL WORKERS WHO WILL BE FREE TO FORM A UNION.....SO I DONT THINK THEY ARE DOING IT FOR THAT REASON. THE UNION IS FREE TO MOVE IN AND ORGANIZE NEW WORKERS. BUT I HAVE TO SAY ONE THING.....EMPLOYEES SHOULD ALWAYS BE PAID FOR THE WORK THEY DO. ILLEGAL OR NOT, THE COMPANY SHOULD PAY THEM. BUT THE COMPANY SHOULD BE FINED FOR HIRING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. AS FAR AS THE WORKERS GO...THEY SHOULD BE DEPORTED.

Didn't want to start a new thread on this issue, but if you want to be really pissed off I can only suggest you read this brilliant piece of opinion from one of the resident lobotomized cretins at HuffPo:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henry-blo ... 77893.html

My favorite part:

No matter what happens, Fresh Direct loses good workers, the workers lose jobs, and Fresh Direct's costs (and, therefore, prices) go up, hurting customers. Fresh Direct's remaining employees presumably get a raise at some point, and maybe better benefits, but only by forcing the company to fire human beings who were willingly doing the same jobs for less.

WAAAAH, WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY THAT'S ABOLISHED FORCED SERVITUDE/BONDAGE, WAAAH!!!

The audit comes at a time when Teamsters 805 has been trying to unionize Fresh Direct’s 900 warehouse workers. Pope said the employees often work 13 hour shifts in cold conditions for $7.50 to $9.75 per hour, while most unionized warehouse workers earn between $10 to $20 per hour.

But illegals don't drive down wages, do they?