Victory! Teamsters win new pro-worker laws in California

California Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed three bills that will strengthen the state’s labor laws by protecting workers from employer retaliation.

This is a huge win for Teamsters Joint Council 7, which led the legislative battle to get the laws passed. It’s also a big victory for workers like Marquez Brothers employees who have faced harsh retaliation since they voted to become Teamsters last year.

Doug Bloch, political director of Teamsters Joint Council 7, says the trio of laws are the strongest labor protections for immigrant workers in the country:

Under these laws, immigrant workers who speak up now have new legal protections... That's because these laws put civil and criminal penalties in place for employers who threaten workers with immigration enforcement.

The three laws -- AB 263, AB 524 and SB 666 -- prohibit immigration-related retaliation and clarify that threatening to expose workers’ immigration status is extortion.

Marquez Brothers is a perfect example of why these laws are necessary. The cheese company has been ruthlessly intimidating workers at its Hanford, Calif., plant since they joined Teamsters Local 517, refusing to bargain and launching a campaign to get the union decertified.

Brother Bloch explains:

Marquez Brothers is one of the largest distributors of dairy products serving the Latino community in North America. After their workers organized a union, the company responded by bringing in Littler Mendelson, a law firm that touts its ability to advise clients on "union avoidance" and "maintaining a union-free workplace." One strategy Littler excels in involves a classic union-busting strategy: delay and decertify.

Marquez Brothers used the [decertification] petition as a legal justification to withdraw union recognition from the workers. In the year since they first organized, Marquez workers have faced a constant campaign of harassment and intimidation. In March, workers traveled to Sacramento to testify at a legislative hearing on employer intimidation, only to be followed by company management and Littler attorneys. One of the workers was fired shortly after the hearing. She was one of twenty union supporters fired since they organized. Others have quit in the face of a constant barrage of harassment.

The state’s new laws put abusive companies like Marquez Brothers on notice, calling their behavior exactly what it is: criminal.

Teamsters at Marquez Brothers have organized a recertification campaign to beat back the company’s anti-union drive. They filed to recertify the union last month, but that election is on hold pending the reopening of the NLRB after the government shutdown.

Bloch says the legislative victory once again puts California on the cutting-edge of pro-labor reforms. And it also shows that when Teamsters mobilize, we win!

The lobby days and work that many Locals did with their legislators on the ground made a huge difference, along with the high visibility of the Teamsters in the Prop 32 fight last year and the DRIVE contributions we make. This is a real testament to all of our JC7 Locals and members who have stepped up in politics.

This victory wouldn’t have happened without the brave sacrifices made by Marquez Brothers workers who lost their jobs during the campaign. With their trips to the state capitol and talking to the press, they won strong support from state legislators and showed why these anti-retaliation laws needed to be passed.

When companies are able to bully workers on immigration issues in order to suppress their wages and working conditions, it drives down standards for all workers. So this is a big win for all California workers.

And in a time when we find ourselves fighting off anti-worker legislation in so many states, it’s refreshing to score a victory for worker-friendly laws.

Way to go, California Teamsters!

Today's Teamster News 10.11.13

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Legislators Travel to Hanford Express Support for Marquez Brothers Workers  California Labor Federation   ...In August, 200 workers at a Marquez Brothers cheese production plant in Hanford (Kings County) voted to join Teamsters Local 517 in Visalia, Calif. Last week, three Assembly members drove eight hours to meet with them and demonstrate their commitment for California Latinos to realize the American Dream…
Hurst: Privatized sanitation might not cost jobs  Princeton Daily Clarion   ...The Teamsters Union represents half the workforce within Princeton’s (Indiana) water, sanitation and sewer departments, but according to Mayor Bob Hurst, only seven people would be affected if the city decides to privatize its sanitation system...
Berkeley: Pyramid Brewery workers protest layoffs  Vallejo Times Herald   ...Cat Wiest, a laid-off Pyramid Brewery worker and shop steward, doesn't buy her bosses' contention that the company must furlough the 15 workers at its Gilman Street location for six to nine months while the facility undergoes upgrades. She suspects the real reason for the layoffs is due to the August 7 election when 12 of the 15 workers voted to join the Teamsters...
Grocery strike looms as negotiations resume  KIRO News   ...Unions, including the Teamsters, are lining up to support Seattle-area grocery workers if they go on strike due to failed negotiations...
Florida Woman Threatens Bankster's Life With a Gun and Gets Dad's Million Dollars Returned  Truthout   ...Daphne Davis invited a top bank executive to her office at the Piggly Wiggly grocery in Apalachicola, pulled out a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol and threatened to shoot him dead. "I told him my face would be the last one he would see if he didn't get Daddy that paperwork," Davis said. The documents came 20 minutes later...
Hell No! to Citizens United 2.0  Common Dreams   ...The Supreme Court of the United States is poised to continue dismantling restrictions on money in politics in a new case that begins today: McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission...
White House to restore military death benefits denied in wake of shutdown  Guardian   ...Solution expected following mounting outrage over denial of benefits to families of service members killed in action...
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AFSCME Members Fighting to Maintain Pension and Protect Public Against Tea Party Ballot Measure  AFSCME   ...If a tea party-backed ballot measure to privatize Cincinnati’s municipal employee retirement system passes, retirement security for 7,500 workers, retirees and survivors will be gone...

Marquez workers to continue fight for Teamsters

Anti-union bosses at the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford, Calif., have thrown everything at their Teamster workers in an effort to crack their resolve. But employees there are not backing down.

Though the unscrupulous employer recently decided against recognizing the union, workers on Oct. 4 will vote to continue their fight for fair wages and safe working conditions. The company has not bargained in good faith since workers decided to join the union in August 2012, and talks have stalled. Marquez went so far as to spread lies that Teamsters were going to call a strike, even though such an action is up to the workers themselves.

Most workers make $9 an hour at the plant. The union’s bargaining unit initial sought $12 hour, but later lowered it to $11.50. The company, however, never budged beyond $9.10.

If sabotaging negotiations wasn’t bad enough, Marquez went further. They hired an expensive union-busting law firm to tail a worker who testified at a legislative hearing in Sacramento back in March. Although lawmakers called out the company and attorneys for their actions, the worker – a mother of four – was later fired.

Partly because of that case, state legislation was enacted earlier this month that bars employers from intimidating immigrant workers for reporting illegal pay or working conditions by threatening to call immigration officials.

Marquez workers said they are ready to continue their fight. Cheese weigher Juan Cruz said:

If we win, we’ll be sending a very strong message to the owners.

Teamster strong!

No ICE for Calif. employers

The Teamsters are hailing the passage of a trio of California bills this week that protect immigrant workers from abusive employers. The measures crack down on retaliation when workers attempt to organize or speak out against unfair treatment or wage theft. They now head to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for his consideration.

The governor has until Oct. 13 to act on all three bills.

AB 263, offered by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, and SB 666, sponsored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, are identical versions of the same bill. They help enforce basic labor laws by barring bosses from calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after working condition complaints are filed against the business. AB 524, offered by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, prohibits similar threats against workers who file complaints about not being paid fairly.

Art Pulaski, the California Labor Federation’s executive secretary-treasurer, said the legislation plays an essential role:

Employers should be on notice that with these bills, retaliating against workers who stand up for their basic rights will have serious consequences. These new protections are vital to protecting all workers who are afraid to report these abuses.

The lengths companies will go to in an effort to keep their workers quiet was on full display earlier this year during a committee hearing. Owners of the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford intimidated one worker who testified before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee in March. The company hired notorious labor-hating law firm Littler Mendelson to follow her and other employees who attended the hearing in Sacramento. The testifying employee, a mother of four, was later fired by Marquez.

Workers at the Marquez plant have been trying to negotiate a first contract as Teamsters for about a year, to no avail. But at least the company’s workers will be allowed to speak out, said Gerardo Aguirre, a former Marquez worker who was fired while standing up for his rights:

The workers at Marquez Brothers are united in standing up to intimidation, at work and in the state legislature. We need laws that allow all workers to speak up and protect immigrant workers from these kinds of abuses.

Gov. Brown has until Oct. 13 to sign them into law.

Abusive employer Marquez Brothers gets the OK from Walmart

Marquez Brothers workers after voting down the contract proposal in May. 

Marquez Brothers, the California cheese plant with the horrific record of mistreating workers, recently got approval by an "independent auditor" to continue as a Walmart contractor.

No one should be surprised by this. Getting approval to be a Walmart contractor involves passing a very low bar indeed. Marquez Brothers joins Bangladeshi garment factories and warehouses accused of massive wage theft.  And it was only when a disgusted public and suppliers put pressure on Walmart did it sever its relationship with C.J.'s Seafoods, a Louisiana seafood processor that enslaved its workers.

Marquez Brothers is a horror story in its own right. The company's employees voted last year to join the Teamsters, but management is spending heavily on a nasty law firm to bust the union. The company made a ludicrous contract proposal in May that was voted down 119-2.

Retaliation against workers is common, and union supporters have been fired. In March, one of the Marquez Brothers' low-wage workers went to testify at a hearing in the state capitalabout its intimidation of immigrant employees. The company's pricey lawyers to follow the worker to the hearing room in Sacramento and intimidate her in front of lawmakers.

Wages are as low as minimum wage. Employees who have worked at Marquez Brothers for 10 years are making $9 an hour, while health care for a family is more than $600 a month. We are told management gave employees a penny an hour raise and told them they should be grateful.

You can imagine what their working conditions are like. Workers who cook cheese are given gloves so cheap their hands get burned. Workers injured by slipping in the freezer aren't given light duty. If workers apply for workers comp or unemployment benefits, Marquez Brothers tries to block them. One worker in his 40s was told by his supervisor that he should quit because he's too old and no longer useful to the Marquez Brothers.

Walmart recently sent an "independent" auditor to assess the company's labor practices. You can guess how it happened. The auditor didn't speak Spanish, so the human relations manager active in busting the union did the translation.

Marquez Brothers got a passing grade from Walmart. We hope they're proud of it.

Marquez Brothers now stalling in attempt to sabotage union

Teamster workers are continuing to run up against the despicable actions of management at Marquez Brothers cheese plant in Hanford, Calif., which is trying to undermine the union’s attempt to agree to a contract. The company, which has gone so far as to send union-busting attorneys to trail workers testifying before the Legislature, is now using stall tactics to demoralize employees.

Chester Suniga, secretary-treasurer at Teamsters Local 517, said the two sides last met July 2 to discuss terms of a deal, and no new negotiations are currently scheduled. The company told workers they were going to get back to them on a last, final offer on wages, but have not contacted union representatives in over a month. And now Marquez Brothers is telling lies, Suniga said:

The company is spreading a rumor that a strike is going on, that the Teamsters are going on strike. We wouldn’t do that, it’s up to the employees. The company is getting them real nervous.

Suniga stated the union is currently seeking a minimum wage of $11.50 an hour for packers at the facility, several dollars less than even some similar non-union jobs pay in the area. But Marquez Brothers has barely moved beyond the initial $9-an-hour wage it set.

The Hanford Sentinel reported the Teamsters are increasing the pressure on Marquez Brothers:

…the union has stepped up local protests. People representing the Teamsters have been passing out flyers at Cost Less and Grocery Outlet in Hanford asking people not to shop there because the stores carry El Mexicano products manufactured by Marquez.

From the get-go, the cheese producer has done everything in its power to try to intimidate workers. After the more than 200 employees agreed to unionize a year ago, management told the factory’s mostly Latino staff that federal immigration officials would be visiting the plant to check their legal status.

Later, they had two high-priced anti-union lawyers follow a worker who appeared before a House committee in an attempt to stop her from speaking out against the company. When that didn’t work, Marquez Brothers fired her.

Legislation currently before the Legislature would prevent employers from intimidating workers going forward. The House approved the bill, AB 263, but it has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Today's Teamster News, 06.03.13

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Maine House OKs "E-Fairness' bill  Associated Press  ...A bill that would close a tax loophole used by large online retailers faces only a final Senate vote after being overwhelmingly approved by the Maine House. It would close a loophole that allows large online retailers that use affiliates to avoid paying sales tax...
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Port of Savannah truck drivers fight for fair working conditions  WTOC News   ...Truck drivers gathered together Saturday to show their struggle to the Savannah community. Port of Savannah drivers and their families fought for fair working conditions during a community driver forum held at Savannah's Coastal Georgia Center...
Union rejects Marquez contract offer  Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel   ...Locked in a battle with Hanford cheese plant Marquez Brothers International, Teamsters Local Union 517 officials said Friday that employees overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer...

Marquez Bros. could face stiffer fine for harassing immigrant workers

Our favorite anti-union attorney
followed a Teamster to the
state Capitol.

California companies like the Marquez Brothers have a nasty way of challenging immigrant workers' legal status if they complain about being exploited. Those companies would pay stiff fines for doing so under two pieces of state legislation that have a chance of becoming law.

Penalties would be increased for companies that retaliate against employees who question their pay or working conditions under AB 263, offered by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina), and SB 666, sponsored by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).  Hernandez's bill would hike fines against employers who retaliate against workers to $10,000 per worker and make retaliation a misdemeanor punishable by jail time. Steinberg's measure would subject attorneys to discipline or disbarment for retaliation.

Both bills passed through committee and are headed for votes on the full floor of the Assembly and the Senate.
Teamsters Local 517 organized Hanford-based Marquez Brothers last year and are still fighting for a first contract. The cheese factory owners are waging a vicious anti-union campaign. It went so far as to brazenly harass its workers in a government hearing in March. Two high-priced union-buster attorneys followed a Marquez Brothers employee -- a Teamster -- into an Assembly hearing room in Sacramento when she was set to testify about the company's actions.

Sister Candida Vanegas, who worked at the plant for three and a half years, was fired for attending Hernandez’s hearing and supporting unionization.

She told radio station KQED:

Everybody’s scared now. They’re saying, if it happened to her who was trying to help out people, what’s going to happen to us.

Chester Suniga, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 517, said the union is asking for a minimum wage at the Hanford plant of $12 an hour. According to Suniga, the two sides have not reached an agreement on a contract after months of negotiations because of the company’s stalling tactics.

We urge all supporters of workers' rights in California to contact their state lawmakers and tell them to vote for AB 263 and SB 666. Whistleblowers shouldn't be punished for turning in cheating corporations.

You can find your legislator here.

Employer's brutal union-busting tactics pushed this Calif. lawmaker too far

Robert Millman of Littler Mendelson is one of the Marquez attorneys who followed a Marquez worker to the Sacramento hearing in March.

Two high-priced union-busters made a big mistake when they followed a Marquez Brothers employee -- a Teamster -- into an Assembly hearing room in Sacramento.

Rep. Roger Hernandez, chair of the Labor and Employment Committee, was infuriated by the company's  intimidation tactic. So much so that the West Covina Democrat drove nearly three hours to show his support for the workers.

On April 11, Hernandez spoke right in front of the company’s cheese plant in Hanford, Calif.  He told the 200 mostly Latino workers that he plans to launch an investigation of the employer.

Teamsters Local 517 organized the Marquez Brothers cheese plant last year, but employers are waging a nasty campaign to prevent the workers from getting a first contract.

“We have to prevent these kind of actions in our state ... and look after those people whose voices are not usually heard,” Hernandez told the Hanford Sentinel. Hernandez is asking for voluntary cooperation from Marquez officials, but stated he would take legal action to subpoena witnesses if necessary. “We will exercise every avenue to ensure that Marquez is held accountable,” he said.

Hernandez’s comments came after his committee held a March hearing looking at ways employers intimidate and retaliate against immigrant workers.  Marquez sent two managers and two attorneys to the hearing to track one Marquez employee who testified and others who attended. The company also fired one of its workers after the hearing. A bill Hernandez introduced earlier this year would provide worker protections against intimidation, retaliation or any coercive action like those being conducted by Marquez Brothers. The Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear AB 263 tomorrow and the Assembly Labor Committee will hear it on May 1.

Candida Vanegas, who worked at the plant for three and a half years, said she was fired for attending Hernandez’s hearing and supporting unionization. “Somehow, they take it personally, and they end up harassing us,” Vanegas told the Hanford Sentinel.

Marquez officials had threatened employees before the March hearing, saying that employees’ testimony would be monitored. The two lawyers working for Marquez and two company officials who attended the hearing violated a state law protecting workers who testify at hearings, Hernandez said.

Chester Suniga, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 517, said the union is asking for a minimum wage at the Hanford plant of $12 an hour. According to Suniga, the two sides have not reached an agreement on a contract after months of negotiations because of the company’s stalling tactics.