Scattered To The Wind

[June 11th, 2008]

One year after a federal immigration raid at Del Monte Fresh Produce, three ex-workers at the North Portland food-processing plant are trying to lead a class-action lawsuit against the fruit company and the staffing agency that hired them.

The lawsuit by the three women alleges wage and overtime violations by Del Monte Fresh and American Staffing Resources, the plant’s employment agency in 2007.

“It’s a collective demand for everyone, for all of the workers,” says Abdias Cortéz Liborio, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

If Multnomah County Circuit Judge Stephen Bushong lets Cortéz and the other plaintiffs proceed with a class-action suit against the two companies, lawyers for the plaintiffs will try to recover wages allegedly lost by perhaps hundreds of plant workers between Jan. 1, 2006, and June 12, 2007.

The attorneys representing Cortéz and co-plaintiffs Maria de los Angeles Tafoya Gutierrez and Magdelena Juan Felipe can’t yet estimate how much money the plaintiffs might collect in a class-action suit.

If successful, it would be the second time workers at Del Monte Fresh could claim victory against the fruit company and a contractor staffing its plant. The first, in 2006, resulted in a $400,000 settlement.

But the latest effort remains in its early stages, and it may prove difficult given that nearly 200 potential witnesses were arrested in the raid—and most of those workers have already been deported to Mexico, Guatemala and other Latin American countries.

The ex-workers’ lawsuit is but one piece of new evidence that the fallout from the Del Monte Fresh raid continues to linger, one year after agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement swept through the St. Johns factory. Supporters of the Del Monte Fresh workers are holding several events in Portland this week to raise awareness of the raid’s effects and to collect money for those still facing deportation.

“Del Monte (Fresh) was part of the beginning of a larger trend of increased workplace raids,” says Shizuko Hashimoto, a coordinator for Portland Central America Solidarity, a group that sponsored a talk about ICE tactics Tuesday, June 10. “It’s not in the news every day, but it’s happening.”

The three plaintiffs in the lawsuit were among nearly 200 illegal immigrants arrested in the raid. Cortéz remains in the United States today and is seeking asylum. Attorney Julie Samples of the Oregon Law Center would not comment on the status of the other two women, but they are in Portland.

The 17 1/2 months specified in the lawsuit, ending June 12, 2007, mark the time between the termination of the previous class-action settlement against both Del Monte Fresh and its former staffing agency, Quick Moore Labor, also known as Quality Manual Labor, and the date of the federal immigration raid. That 2006 settlement also stemmed from accusations of wage violations.

The latest lawsuit against Del Monte Fresh and American Staffing alleges, among other things, that the two companies failed to pay workers for time it took them to put on and take off protective clothing and required them to buy parts of their uniform, including gloves and aprons. If true, both practices would violate Oregon’s wage laws because they would effectively push workers’ pay below the hourly minimum.

A three-day WW investigation of Del Monte Fresh’s food-processing plant in North Portland last year (see “Chop Shop,” May 2, 2007) found workers were required to buy glove liners for 75 cents a pair.

Additionally, WW’s investigation also uncovered workers who donned smocks, gloves and hair nets while off the clock.

Gordon Osaka, an attorney for North Carolina-based American Staffing, says he won’t comment on pending litigation. Brad Stanford, an attorney for Florida-based Del Monte Fresh Produce, also wouldn’t comment. Undocumented immigrants are protected by Oregon’s minimum-wage laws.

Judge Bushong is expected to rule whether the class-action suit can proceed after Aug. 1 oral arguments.