Hoffa Condemns Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Suppression of Worker Rights

Hoffa Condemns Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Suppression of Worker Rights

Contact: Galen Munroe, (202) 624-6911

December 14, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) – Workers at FreshDirect in Queens, New York are in a fight for their families’ futures as the company has staged an aggressive antiunion campaign against their 900 employees who are seeking to organize. To compound an already tense organizing campaign, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has now launched an internal audit at FreshDirect which has led to the dismissal or suspension of more than 100 employees.

ICE’s investigation comes at a critical stage of an organizing campaign that has stretched over the course of six months. The workers are scheduled to vote for union representation on December 22 and 23, however many now fear they may be wrongly persecuted during the agency’s investigation.

Questions and irregularities surround the launch of the ICE investigation into FreshDirect’s employee records. ICE has seemingly violated its own internal policies by initiating FreshDirect’s audit during an ongoing labor dispute.

To quote its own policy, ICE will reserve immediate action on any information received concerning employment of undocumented or unauthorized aliens "…where it appears that information may have been provided in order to interfere with or to retaliate against employees for exercising their rights" to form a union.

With a union election just over a week away, I do not see how any official at ICE could in good conscience proceed with any internal audit and believe it would have no impact on the outcome of the vote. I am sure the ICE representatives will find a loophole to justify the timing of its investigation, but that does not change the fact that the internal audit and the additional lost jobs that will result, only help the company continue to intimidate the workforce.

Early in this campaign, FreshDirect boasted to the workers that they had retained the services of an antiunion law firm. And now, with all indications pointing to even more firings, the ICE has only helped spread a culture of intimidation and fear.

The series of events that led to the current situation just highlights the flawed nature of our immigration policies. When the actions by an agency that was established to protect our national security could compromise the pursuit of workers’ rights, we as a country must reevaluate our priorities and fix this broken system.

A person’s right to form a union is not only their right as a worker, but it is their civil, human and moral right. I urge all workers who are seeking a voice in the workplace at FreshDirect to stand strong and vote with your conscience. The Teamsters stand ready to fight for your rights.