Crunch Pak lays off workers


Dan Wheat
Published:May 20, 2014 1:12PM


Dan Wheat/Capital Press Job fair signs on Crunch Pak office in Cashmere, Wash., May 20. The company has used job fairs to recruit workers in anticipation of layoffs due to ICE audits.

A national leader in sliced apple production has laid off an undisclosed number of workers whose work eligibility documents did not pass federal review.

CASHMERE, Wash. — Crunch Pak, the nation’s leader in sliced apples, confirmed that it laid off some of its 900 employees May 20 due to an I-9 audit by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But the company would not say how many.

“The company feels information pertaining to employees individually or as a whole could inadvertently result in an invasion of privacy,” said Amy Philpott, company spokeswoman based in Washington, D.C.

On a street outside the company, a relative of one worker said 300 to 400 people were laid off and that Crunch Pak chose that over a $1 million fine. Philpott had no comment on that.

“The company knows there will be a certain level of business disruption but with hiring and automation feels it can minimize that,” Philpott said.

Crunch Pak has been hiring people for sometime in anticipation of possible layoffs and was planning to automate some of its production process even before the ICE audit began last August, she said.

The company held a job fair Nov. 15. Signs now outside the plant state the company holds a job fair every Friday through May 30, accepting applications and doing on-site hiring.

The signs note minimum wage starts at $10.05 per hour and that all full-time employees receive a free annual bus pass. The state’s minimum wage is $9.32 per hour.

The company was informed by ICE in August that it had been randomly and routinely selected for the audit, Philpott said.

I-9 forms that show Social Security numbers or other proof of eligibility of employment were reviewed and Crunch Pak was informed of mismatches in early May, Philpott said.

Mismatches are not necessarily an indication of immigration status but can be transposed numbers or changes of names, she said. At the end of the night shift on May 8 and day shift on May 9, Crunch Pak gave an undisclosed number of employees letters asking them to correct their I-9s by May 19 or lose their jobs, she said. If people are able to correct their forms after May 19 they may be rehired, she said.

According to an Associated Press story, about 50 workers walked off their jobs on May 9 to protest anticipated layoffs. One said about 90 percent of the workforce received notices to correct their I-9 forms. Some said the company exploited their lack of legal status to assign long hours with no paid vacations, no pay raises or health benefits. Maria Rosas was quoted in the story as saying she had worked there 14 years and was never asked for employment eligibility documents.

Asked about those comments, Philpott said, the company has abided by wage and hour laws including those providing overtime pay and wage increases.

“The company has always strived to hire people authorized to work in this country regardless of nationality,” she said.

Crunch Pak began in a 600-square-foot room in a Naumes fruit plant in Wenatchee in 2000. It now has 69,000 square feet of production and shipping space in Cashmere and 10,000 square feet in Reading, Pa. It can produce up to 1 million pounds of sliced apples per week.

In 2012, the Nielsen Company estimated Crunch Pak had 42 percent of the sliced apple business, valued at $250 million annually and in more than 16,000 U.S. stores. It also supplies schools and restaurants, co-brands products with Disney and packages grapes and carrots.

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