Foodstuff Workers Industrial Union 460
All workers except agricultural and fishery workers, engaged in producing and processing food, beverages, and tobacco products.
Posted Thu, 02/04/2010 - 6:23pm by x344543
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers
February 1, 2010
Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org
Workers Rights' Group Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Beverage Distributor Over Alleged Labor Violations
Immigrant Workers Take a Stand for Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay
New York, NY- A non-profit workers' rights organization filed a class action lawsuit on Friday alleging that a Queens-based drink distributor,
Beverage-Plus, is violating the rights of its immigrant workforce.
The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court on behalf of current and former delivery drivers and warehouse assistants who were allegedly denied minimum wage and overtime by Beverage-Plus, in addition to other rights violations. The case is an effort of the Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative which is exposing abuses in NYC's food processing sector and was brought in association with law firm Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C.
"My co-workers and I work hard and now we are demanding to be paid according to the law," said Richard Merino, a member of Brandworkers who has been a driver at Beverage-Plus for six years. "Wage theft is very damaging and we have chosen to tackle the problem by organizing together and taking collective action."
Lawyers for the workers will seek class certification to recover allegedly withheld compensation for current and former Beverage-Plus workers who have worked at the company in the last six years. Maia Goodell and Anand Swaminathan of Vladeck Waldman are serving as lead counsel.
"Tens of thousands of recent immigrant workers labor out-of-sight in exploitative conditions processing and distributing food to New York's markets and restaurants," said Daniel Gross, the director of Brandworkers. "Wage theft, abusive treatment, non-existent benefits, and hostility to organizing are endemic in the sector but workers' resolve to assert their rights is strong and growing. Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain will press on until New York's food processing employees win respect for their human rights and just recognition for their important contribution to our economy and our community."
Brandworkers is a New York-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees. By providing workers with legal, advocacy, and organizing tools, Brandworkers ensures employer compliance with the law and challenges corporate misconduct in the community. The Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative promotes a sustainable food system where workers' human rights are respected.
Posted Wed, 01/20/2010 - 3:07pm by x344543
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers
January 20, 2010
Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org
Workers Reach Comprehensive Settlement with Prominent Seafood Company
Protracted Grassroots Campaign Saw Over 75 Leading Restaurants Stop Serving Wild Edibles Products
New York, NY- Lawyers filed with a federal bankruptcy judge a global settlement agreement totaling over $340,000 and containing strong workplace protections in a high-profile set of litigation brought by workers against one of New York's leading seafood companies, Wild Edibles, Inc.
The comprehensive settlement comes after a bitterly-contested campaign in which some two-dozen recent immigrant workers and their non-profit organization, Brandworkers, used grassroots actions, media advocacy, and community organizing in an effort to win legal accountability at Wild Edibles, which supplies seafood to some of NYC's most famed restaurants in addition to operating retail seafood outlets.
"We're on top of the world today because more than anything we showed that ordinary workers can get organized, take action together, and win," said Raymundo Lara Molina, a former Wild Edibles employee and member of Brandworkers.
Posted Wed, 11/25/2009 - 11:29pm by x360279
November 25, 8am: Workers along with members of the NYC-GMB march to Flaum, a kosher food distributor in Brooklyn, after a Labor Board ruling which ordered the boss to reinstate the workers with back pay. Instead, the boss wrongfully demanded that the workers reauthorize their immigration status and denied them their right to return to work.
The workers had been illegally fired for engaging in a work stoppage over the right to form a labor union and payment in accordance with the law.
Posted Thu, 02/05/2009 - 5:19pm by x344543
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers International
Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org
Brandworkers Denounces Bribe Offers as Wild Edibles' Latest Attempt to
Avoid Accountability to Employees
New York, NY (02/03/2009) - Brandworkers, a non-profit for retail and food
employees, announced today that several of its members from Wild Edibles, Inc.
have been offered bribes to end a 16-month workplace accountability campaign
directed at the company. While refusing to pay what is owed in ongoing federal
court and Labor Board litigation, Wild Edibles owner Richard Martin and one of
his lieutenants have been offering cash payments to workers if they revoke their
membership in Brandworkers and repudiate a worker-led public education campaign
regarding rights abuses at the seafood processor and retailer.
Posted Thu, 02/05/2009 - 4:54pm by x344543
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers International
Star Chef Marcus Samuelsson's Restaurant Stops Serving Wild Edibles Seafood
Over Workers' Rights Concerns
New York, NY (01/26/09)- Aquavit, a perennial winner of three stars from
the New York Times, has stopped serving seafood from accused labor rights
violator, Wild Edibles. Workers at Wild Edibles have been campaigning for
almost a year and a half to reclaim unlawfully withheld overtime pay and win
respect on the job. Aquavit joins over 50 other leading NYC eateries that have
decided not to serve Wild Edibles seafood until the workers' human rights are
honored there.
"I am pleased that in these tough economic times, Aquavit has heard our
call for fairness and accountability from Wild Edibles," said Lino Martinez, a
plaintiff in the class action overtime lawsuit against Wild Edibles. The
National Labor Relations Board has issued two complaints against Wild Edibles
for retaliating against Martinez and several of his co-workers.
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