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Washington, DC- Immigrant workers organizing for justice at a Brooklyn-based producer and distributor of kosher food products have taken a big step forward in their campaign and achieved a legal victory for workers around the country. Using discriminatory allegations about workers' immigration status, Flaum Appetizing has been resisting compliance with a 2009 trial decision that found the company illegally fired employees who came together seeking dignified working conditions. The National Labor Relations Board holding precludes Flaum from continuing to raise baseless immigration status defenses against at least eleven of the workers, and potentially as many as fifteen. By prohibiting employers from engaging in discriminatory 'fishing expeditions' against immigrants or perceived immigrants, the Board clarified important procedural safeguards in cases governed by the landmark anti-immigrant Supreme Court case, Hoffman Plastic.

"Companies that discriminate and undermine labor rights drive down economic standards for every working person, native-born and immigrant alike," said Daniel Gross, the director of non-profit organization Brandworkers, which, along with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union is campaigning for justice at Flaum as part of the Focus on the Food Chain campaign. "Worker organizing helps create the type of quality jobs that support a dynamic economy and healthy communities. The Labor Board's decision is an important step toward ensuring that Flaum and companies like it will not escape accountability through unfounded and discriminatory inquiries into immigration status."

New York grocery stores and restaurants rely on an industrial corridor of food processing factories and distribution warehouses like Flaum that hold down wages and safety standards by exploiting recent immigrant workers. Wage theft, discrimination, and abuse is common in the sector and efforts for change are almost always met with determined and unlawful retaliation. Overcoming these challenges, the Flaum workers are waging a powerful campaign to bring the company into compliance with fundamental workplace protections. The workers have shared their story and persuaded over 120 of NYC's most prominent supermarket locations to discontinue selling Flaum products, including it's Sonny & Joe's hummus, until the company comports with the rule of law. The global kosher cheese giant Tnuva refused to renew its distribution contract with Flaum after spirited worker campaigning and support from Jewish organizations including Uri L'Tzedek, the Orthodox social  justice organization.

"We're glad Flaum didn't get away with avoiding its responsibilities under the law," said Maria Corona, one of the victorious workers and a Focus on the Food Chain member. "There's power in coming together with your co-workers and we are well on our way to winning the justice we have been seeking."

The NLRB's Office of the General Counsel is prosecuting the case against Flaum. The Flaum workers are represented by Eisner & Mirer, a New York labor & employment law firm.

Focus on the Food Chain promotes sustainable jobs and a thriving local food industry in the City of New York. Through organizing, grassroots advocacy, and legal action, the campaign challenges and overcomes unlawful conditions in food processing and distribution warehouses. The Focus campaign is a collaboration of non-profit organization Brandworkers and the NYC Industrial Workers of the World labor union.

Rabbis, Workers' Rights Advocates Around the World Take Joint Action Over Abuses at Kosher Cheese Giant's New York Distribution Company

September 22, 2011

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

New York, NY -- Workers and kosher consumers around the world participated  in actions Friday to call on Tnuva, the world's largest kosher cheese company, to honor the human rights of its distribution workers. The multinational kosher cheese giant distributes its cheese in New York City though the Flaum Appetizing Corp., a business widely shunned for unlawful labor practices and abuse of immigrant workers from Latin America. While a consensus has largely emerged against Flaum's labor practices, Tnuva continues to do business with Flaum.

"Flaum Appetizing exploited its immigrant workers for years," said Ari Hart, a founder of Uri L'Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization. "Tnuva should use its influence to get Flaum to pay its workers or, if Flaum won't, to choose a company that is yosher (ethical)."

In the New York metropolitan area, Flaum workers and supporters rallied at Tnuva USA's headquarters while Jewish leaders rallied outside a kosher supermarket in Queens calling on CEO Yoram Behiri to ensure respect for the rule of law at Flaum. Phone calls were made to Tnuva from Yeshiva University students and from individuals around the country  participating in the ongoing occupation of Wall Street. Supporters took action outside New York in a wide variety of locations around the United States including Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri and internationally in the British Isles, Canada, Germany, and Poland.

Flaum Appetizing is a highly profitable kosher food processor and distributor in Brooklyn that has engaged in systematic exploitation of immigrant workers from Latin America. The company pushed its employees to work at unsafe speeds, with 60-80 hour work weeks, while denying them  overtime pay. When workers stood up for their rights, Flaum illegally fired seventeen of them in retaliation. A National Labor Relations Board  judge found that Flaum engaged in extensive and unlawful retaliation, but the company has refused for almost three years to comply with the court order to pay its worker $260,000 in back wages.

"For years my coworkers and I worked hard to bring Tnuva products to its  customers," said Felipe Romero, a former Flaum worker who was illegally  fired. "Tnuva should show concern our rights and help us recover our stolen wages."

With Focus on the Food Chain, the Flaum workers are leading a powerful campaign that has resulted in more than 65 of New York's most popular supermarket locations to stop selling Flaum products until Flaum is held  accountable. Tnuva is owned by a sprawling private equity company, Apax Partners, which has financial interests around the world in a diverse array of industries. Another Apax-owned company, the Tommy Hilfiger clothing brand, has also come under fire for using sweatshop labor. The Global Day of Action was organized by Focus on the Food Chain and Uri L'Tzedek.

Contact - press (at) brandworkers.org

New York, NY- The Cottage chain of Chinese restaurants has discontinued all restaurant supply purchases from Pur Pac, a Queens-based distribution warehouse that, through  predecessor companies, engaged in massive wage theft and illegal retaliation against workers who stood up for their rights.  Though Pur Pac, through its previous incarnations as E-Z Supply and Sunrise Plus, was found liable in both federal court and the National Labor Relations Board for pervasive workers' rights violations, the workers have yet to see any of the compensation they are owed.  Cottage restaurants, by far one of Pur Pac's most significant customers, dropped the distribution company after a spirited worker-led advocacy effort calling on Cottage to avoid using suppliers that violate workers' human rights.

"This is heavy, difficult work and we worked hard every day doing it only to be cheated out of the wages we were owed," said Jorge Paez, a former delivery truck driver at the company and a member of Focus on the Food Chain, the workers' rights campaign organizing for justice at Pur Pac.  "I'm pleased that Cottage has chosen to stop using the rice, soy sauce, cooking oil and many other supplies it was purchasing from Pur Pac until the rights of my co-workers and I are respected."

Focus on the Food Chain challenges sweatshop conditions in a major industrial corridor of processing and distribution warehouses in Brooklyn and Queens that provide food and supplies to NYC restaurants and grocery stores.  Conditions at Pur Pac are typical of the sector where violations of basic workers' rights, exploitation of recent immigrants, and relentless retaliation against worker organizing are the norm.  Earlier this year, a Brooklyn tortilla factory in the heart of the corridor claimed the life of 22 year-old Juan Baten, a Guatemalan immigrant who was crushed to death on the job.  The Focus campaign is a joint effort of non-profit organization Brandworkers and the NYC Industrial Workers of the World labor union.

"Cottage was a large and long-time customer of Pur Pac and it's a testament to the workers' resolve that they were able to move these restaurants to stop using sweatshop-distributed products," said Daniel Gross, the director of Brandworkers.  "This is a big step forward towards winning accountability and respect for the rule of law at Pur Pac."

The Focus on the Food Chain campaign promotes a sustainable food system that incorporates respect for workers' human rights.  Brandworkers is a New York-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees. The Industrial Workers of the World is a dynamic and member-driven union committed to workplace democracy and global solidarity.