Thank You, Brother Sanchez, for Telling Your Story!

Almost a year ago, I helped organize a group of warehouse processors and quality technicians at i-Health, a division of DSM-Firmenich, a multi-billion-dollar European conglomerate headquartered in Switzerland.

These workers, motivated by the simple need for better and safer conditions in warehouse facilities like theirs, voted to join Teamsters Local 671. To anyone who has ever worked a physically demanding job in a warehouse or factory, the decision to unionize was an easy and smart decision.

To say we kicked over a hornet’s nest would understate management’s reaction. DSM-Firmenich repeatedly discouraged, and tried to frighten the workers at its i-Health warehouse in Enfield into voting no. When that fear campaign failed, we contend DSM-Firmenich increased the length of workdays at the facility by 50 percent through mandatory overtime, added a sixth day to the work week, and – in a decision that was a slap in the face of our veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great nation – required employees to work on Memorial Day.

During the days and weeks and months that followed, we contend were forced to work for much longer periods than what was typical, or safe. The pressure the company exerted every day to work longer hours and meet unrealistic production standards led to injuries and physical, mental, and emotional stress for good workers who were just trying to earn a living for our families.

In protest of these unfair labor practices, we voted in December to strike. During Day 2 of the strike, DSM-Firmenich fired 12 of us by text message for not showing up to work for two consecutive days and fired an additional striker in January this year. It is our contention, and that of Local 671 and our International Brotherhood of Teamsters, that the firings were illegal.

This example of a company imposing production quotas that threaten workers’ health and safety is one reason we need the Connecticut General Assembly to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection legislation this session.

Another reason is that at some companies – allegedly including Amazon, which operates 16 warehouses in Connecticut and is planning a 17th – the quotas and performance metrics are a secret.

A secret, that is, to the warehouse employees whose lives are impacted by them.

Could anyone else get away with this in 21st century America?

Imagine if school districts did not share graduation requirements with students?

Or if a bank refused to tell you the terms and outstanding balance on your loan, and just kept demanding that you send payments with no defined payoff amount?

The idea of working toward a goal or result that’s not shared with you is ludicrous at best, regressive and abusive at worst. The very notion would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Warehouse employees forced to work toward an invisible quota every day feel pressure to keep going, many of them lifting heavy objects and performing repetitive motions for long durations, risking health and safety, because they fear losing their jobs.

This year, state Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, Labor Committee Senate Chair Julie Kushner and Senate Democrats filed warehouse worker legislation that would help greatly in creating a safe and human workplace for warehouse employees. I’m extremely grateful for the support of Senators Looney, Kushner and the many other House and Senate members who have co-sponsored this important legislation.

The legislation before the General Assembly this session would provide some basic protections for workers like us, including:

• Requiring large warehouses to disclose the quotas by which they judge workers, both at the time they are hired and any time the quota is changed;

• Ensuring that companies can’t force workers to meet production quotas that compromise their health and safety or their ability to take breaks and use rest rooms;

• Giving workers the right to request a written description of the quota targets they will be judged by, their work speed data, and aggregated work speed data for other workers in similar jobs in the facility; and

• Prohibiting companies from retaliating against employees who exert their legal rights provided by the legislation.

The legislative bills had a public hearing this week before the Labor Committee where I, and a number of our co-workers, came forward to tell legislators our personal experiences and stories. We hope our testimony will provide a helpful perspective for legislators to better understand what is really happening in warehouses in Connecticut today.

These are basic measures that should be embraced by any workplace and state that values the humanity of its workforce.

In passing these important protections for workers, Connecticut would not be alone. In fact, five states (California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Washington) have already passed legislation to protect warehouse workers and it’s now been introduced in more than a dozen additional states.

We ask that all member of the General Assembly listen to our stories and experiences and pass this pass this vital legislation as soon as possible.

#teamsterslocal671 #newenglandteamsters #ihealth #CTteamsters