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.

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.

Calif. committee gives employees, unions a double win

A California legislative panel pushed back against big business supporters yesterday when it approved two pro-labor bills, a victory for the Teamsters and other unions advocating for the measures.

The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee passed one bill that would give workers additional tools to seek pay they are owed, and another that would protect them from retaliation when they attempt to organize or speak out against unfair treatment. In addition to union support, the bills also have the strong backing of public interest groups representing low-wage and immigrant workers who are seen as the main beneficiaries of the legislation.

 

Rome Aloise, president of Joint Council 7, hailed the victory: 

“The Teamsters are in strong support of comprehensive immigration reform. But this bill is crucial because it provides protections for immigrants workers that are not part of the federal proposal. Taken together, these bills will help workers come out of the shadows and gain dignity and respect.”

AB 1164, sponsored by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), would allow workers to place liens on corporate and private property if a company head engages in wage theft. This happens when companies abruptly shut down their offices and don’t pay workers money they are owed. Company owners with a lien on their property would have a hard time selling it. This measure would be a big incentive for bosses to settle their debts with workers instead of running out on their bills and opening up somewhere else under a different name.

Caitlin Vega of the California Labor Federation said the state needs to give its most vulnerable employees more certainty when it comes to receiving their paychecks.

“Our concern is that workers believe in the underground economy, that this is how it works. When they come forward … to talk about wage theft and go through the entire process, at the end of the day the wage lien is an important tool.”

Committee Chairman Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) issued his support for the bill, saying it grants justice to workers who often are exploited. While the California Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business hacks complained the penalties are too severe, it is the legislature’s job to make sure there is protection for all.

“Undoubtedly, you are working … to right a wrong. There is tremendous severity for those who are wronged. What about the ability to pay rent, to feed your children?” Hernández questioned, adding, “The fact that you are bringing something strong is necessary. … We need to reward the good actors and stamp out the bad actors.”

The committee also gave its approval to AB 263, offered by Chairman Hernández, that would bar employers from intimidating employees who attempt to unionize or report unfair wages or unsafe working conditions. In many cases, bosses target immigrant workers by asking them for additional paperwork or threatening to call federal immigration authorities.

Several workplaces, including the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford where Teamsters are currently negotiating their first contract, have engaged in such activity. During a March hearing in front of the same committee, the company hired attorneys to trail workers who came to Sacramento, and later fired one who testified in front of the panel.

Labor and workers’ rights representatives, including Shane Gusman of the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, told lawmakers that the bill would be a substantial step in the right direction. Vega stated:

“When workers try to assert their rights … what they are met with are not only threats, but immigration related threats. … What we are trying to go after with this bill is the widespread retaliation against workers. We want to go after the use of immigration threats.”

Dennis Garcia of the California Domestic Workers Association added:

“All workers, no matter what their immigration status, should not be afraid.”

These bills will continue to move through the Assembly. Our brothers and sisters in California should continue to tell their elected representatives to support these important measures.

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.