Report reveals McDonald's threw workers under the bus in Teamster campaign

The world's largest fast food company failed workers in its supply chain when it dropped business with Taylor Farms, the world's largest supplier of packed salad and produce.

That's the finding of a new report released by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), documenting extensive violations of workers' rights at Taylor Farms' facility in Tracy, Calif., where workers have been trying to organize with Teamsters Local 601 for almost two years.

According to the report, titled "Golden Veneer: How McDonald’s Empty CSR Promises Failed Workers at Taylor Farms," McDonald's "failed to use its leverage" with Taylor Farms to address labor law violations and instead "caused further damage to the workers" by walking away from the situation altogether:

When workers asked McDonald’s to help address multiple cases of intimidation and sexual harassment at their supplier, Taylor Farms, McDonald’s response took workers by surprise. 

McDonald’s was a large buyer of Taylor Farms produce at the time and within a few months they sent representatives from a corporate social responsibility firm called Arche Advisors – a firm that promotes its expertise in stakeholder engagement – to look into the situation. Unfortunately, the only “report” workers received after the Arche Advisors’ visit was when McDonald’s pulled out of Taylor Farms four months after their visit, leaving dozens out of work just before the holidays. 

ILRF's report added that McDonald's actions inadvertently aided Taylor Farms' campaign against its workers and the Teamsters:

Although we have seen brands cut and run when trouble arises at a supplier before, the swiftness of McDonald’s action was destructive and the lack of transparency from Arche Advisors meant management was able to use McDonald’s review in its campaign against the union. Ironically, McDonald’s CSR programs actually undermined the same rights they were meant to protect.  

McDonald's code of conduct insists that suppliers must respect workers' freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. The code includes a phone number to call to report violations. And that's exactly what one Taylor Farms worker did last year after workers endured countless abuses by the company, included retaliatory firings, intimidation, threats to call immigration authorities and other unlawful tactics before and during the workers' election for Teamster representation.

After McDonald's consultants conducted several audits of the plants in Tracy, the fast-food giant cancelled its orders with Taylor Farms. Not only did this lead to loss of jobs for workers already suffering harsh conditions and company bullying, the salad company also blamed the loss of work on the Teamsters:

Multiple workers reported being told in one-on-one conversations with Taylor Farms managers that the union was the reason McDonald’s pulled its business. Flyers were widely circulated within the facility with photos of the union saying, “thanks for taking away McDonald’s,” and Taylor Farms managers had said repeatedly on previous occasions that union complaints would lead to job loss. Thus, rather than aiding in correction of the violation of McDonald’s Supplier Code, the audit became a tool management used to reinforce to the workforce that if they complain or attempt to unionize, they will face dismissal. 

ILRF concludes that a better "corporate responsibility" policy for McDonald's would be to re-engage with Taylor Farms in an effort to correct the union-busting behavior:

[W]e urge McDonald’s to correct the flaws in their system and to cut a new path in corporate accountability towards programs based on binding standards, transparent reporting, and engagement with trade unions to ensure workers’ rights are protected throughout their supply chain. We stand ready to engage in that redesign, but first we need McDonald’s to come back to the table to stand up for the workers’ whose rights were violated at Taylor Farms.

Teamsters have filed 87 unfair labor practice charges against Taylor Farms, which are still being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board after ballots were impounded from the election last year. Organizers say the Board is close to concluding its investigation and they believe a ruling favorable to workers' bargaining rights will be made soon.

The ILRF report shows us the limits of so-called "corporate social responsibility" -- and why these policies often mean nothing for workers without unions holding companies' feet to the fire. No wonder why Taylor Farms workers have bravely withstood so many indignities in their ongoing fight to become Teamsters.  

Taylor Farms workers help push CA bill to protect temp workers

The Teamster organizing struggle at Taylor Farms in California moved to the state capitol yesterday where workers helped push forward a bill to make companies responsible for workers hired through temp agencies.

AB 1897 passed the Committee on Labor and Employment on a party-line vote in a defeat for the 25 corporate lobbyists who tried to paint the bill as a "job killer." Lawmakers, including Republicans on the committee, highlighted Taylor Farms as a "bad apple" whose abusive labor practices make laws like AB 1897 necessary. The California Labor Federation and Teamsters from Locals 439 and 601 stood with Taylor Farms food processing workers who traveled to Sacramento to lobby in support of the legislation.

Teamsters with Assemblymember
Roger Hernandez, author of AB 1897

AB 1897 would hold companies accountable to the temp agency workers they hire -- workers who they constantly deny responsibility for yet depend on for labor. The law will require companies to ensure that the temp workers they use are getting fair pay and a safe work environment, and that the agencies are paying their fair share in taxes.

Taylor Farms workers know firsthand how exploitative the labor contracting system is. At its plants in Tracy, Calif., the company hides behind two staffing agencies, SlingShot and Abel Mendoza. The agencies, which staff up to two-thirds of the facilities, allow the company to get away with serious labor violations. One young worker with SlingShot has worked at Taylor Farms for 10 years -- he started working there on the onion line when he was 9 years-old.

When workers are injured, the company and temp agencies deny being the "employer of record" so workers can't get compensation. Taylor Farms pays Abel Mendoza $14 per hour for each worker but Abel Mendoza pays the workers only $8 per hour, costing already impoverished workers over $10,000 a year.

The temp labor contracting scheme also allows companies like Taylor Farms to crack down mercilessly on workers who try to organize. When Taylor Farms workers tried to join Teamsters Local 601, the company retaliated with a non-stop fear campaign run by paid union-busters who threatened and harassed workers, especially immigrant workers. The company got rid of pro-union workers by making the agencies fire them.

All of this made it easier for the company to effectively steal the election when workers held their vote on union representation, forcing the NLRB to impound ballots while it investigates Taylor Farms' extreme misconduct.

By making companies like Taylor Farms responsible for all of their workers, including "temps," AB 1897 will make it harder to violate workers rights with impunity. Teamster friend Roger Hernandez, a California assemblymember for the 48th District, authored AB 1897 with Taylor Farms workers in mind -- similar to his anti-retaliation law signed by the governor which was inspired by Marquez Brothers workers' fight for Teamster representation.

While the NLRB investigates charges against the company, Teamsters and Taylor Farms workers are expanding the campaign for union representation in Tracy by reaching out to allies, the media and political leaders.


Teamsters, Taylor Farms workers at the state capitol

AB 1897 now moves to the Appropriations Committee. As the labor contractor system has moved from the fields of the Central Valley into the food processing facilities -- and as corporations throughout the economy increasingly adopt this employment scheme -- laws like AB 1897 are becoming more urgent than ever.

Taylor Farms workers and the Teamsters plan to continue holding up Taylor Farms as a poster child for temp labor abuses.

Teamsters march with farm workers (slide show)

California Teamsters want for farm workers what all Teamsters want for America: Good jobs. Which is why Teamsters from California's Central Valley joined farm workers in Stockton on their 167-mile march to the state capitol. They want Gov. Jerry Brown to sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers bill.

The Examiner reports,

Thousands of California farm workers and their supporters today rallied at the State Capitol in Sacramento, after a 13-day, 167-mile march through California’s Central Valley, to demand better protections and more union rights. The march, organized by the United Farm Workers union (“UFW”), began nearly two months after California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 104, the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act, which would have made it easier for California’s farm workers to join unions such as the UFW.

 .... The protest also occurs against a backdrop of at least two allegedly heat-related California farm worker deaths in the past several months.

The farm workers’ march to Sacramento seems to have had an effect: according to various reports, Governor Brown has offered a compromise which would give added protections to California farm workers and their unions under current law.

Teamsters International Vice President Rome Alois spoke to the crowd in Sacramento. Plenty of Teamsters were there, along with the brand new Teamsters Joint Council 7 truck.

Teamsters had also fed the marchers in Stockton, reports the North Valley Labor Federation,

Teamsters 439, UFCW 8, Teamsters 601 provided lunches and dinners for the walkers. Lots of food to get them on their way.

Sam Rosas and Local 439 brought their big rig to travel with the walkers and bring NEWS (channel 3) interest to the march.

Si se puede!!