December 12, 2007
Fresh Direct Exit
Approximately 85 undocumented workers are being fired from the high-end grocery delivery company Fresh Direct on the on the eve of the holiday season because their status as U.S. residents is disputed. Dozens of workers filed out of the company's Queens warehouse. Fresh Direct blamed a federal probe for the axing of almost a hundred workers.
According to the Daily News, "management insisted it carried out the purge under pressure from federal authorities to crack down on illegal immigrants" and the company said it was "cooperating with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in its review of employment documentation."
Paradoxically, the local union is fighting for undocumented laborers' rights to work at the Fresh Direct warehouse.
Local 805 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which over the summer began an effort to organize a union among the 900 workers at the FreshDirect’s warehouse in Long Island City, Queens, asserts that the suspensions are an effort to foil a unionization election scheduled for Dec. 22 and 23.We find it fascinating that organized labor, which has been fighting outsourcing to foreign countries with more relaxed labor laws, is now battling to allow undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to unionize in America. We suppose that makes sense, but the two trends seem at odds.
Local 805 President Sandy Pope discussed efforts to unionize workers on the Brian Lehrer Show in October, and the union's website puts its feeling about Fresh Direct out in the open.
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Sounds like somebody wants more people paying union dues...
Of course it makes sense - jobs that shift overseas result in fewer jobs and potential union dues. Illegal immigrants helping to unionize a local employer increases union dues.
follow..
the cash?
This is just the beginning of the disruption and anguish caused to poor workers when politicians and the state pressure INS and business owners to act on the fake hysteria about "illegal" workers. Its the worst shallow stupid non-issue fallout from 911 yet. And it targets and punishes a lot of nice folks who, BTW, embody the very priciples that these dumb politicians say they are protecting. They are mostly hard working people with families and a dream to improve the lot of their children.
Witch-hunt b*llshit.
No food delivery for you.
No Merry Christmas for them.
BTW
The heart of the union movement these days is all about illegal workers AND many grass roots union organizers are very involved in helping to organize workers in Chine, SE Asia, etc. Sure, uniions are sometimes corrupt and in bed with management. But basically, workers don't have a chance in hell without them.
Wow glennQNYC and perryair, your razor sharp comments cut right to the heart of the matter. The fact that some unions are corrupt means that they are all useless. Right on. I guess we should apply the same logic to the police, local, state and federal government, the stock exchange, professional basketball, umm...what else?
And yeah, unions are totally unnecessary. We should all trust corporations to treat their workers fairly because, well, corporations aren't just about the bottom line, they love their workers and will always treat them with respect and dignity. They'd never force people to work 10 hour days, 6 days a week. They would never hire children, and never ever ever pay one cent less than a fair wage.
This country needs stronger unions. Sadly, many unions have been in bed with management, and their support of illegal immigration is one such example of how unions have become the unwitting corporate whores in exchange for more dues-paying members. I agree that the majority of illegal immigrants are decent people trying to improve their lot in life, but they are here in large numbers because corporations want them here to keep wages down and undermine workers' rights. Being responsible means you have to say 'no' to good people, and we have let the immigration situation get completely out of control. It's time for some responsibility.
This is sad, but is Key foods, etc. any better?