Migrant workers at Delta egg plant decry abrupt loss of jobs; advocates defend labor force
Summary
Date Reported: 23 May 2024
Location: United States of America
Companies
Delta Egg Farm - Employer , Cal-Maine Foods - Other Value Chain Entity , El Gallinero - Labour SupplierAffected
Total individuals affected: 200
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Peru , Agriculture & livestock , Women , Unknown migration status ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Peru , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Unknown migration status ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Peru , Agriculture & livestock , Gender not reported , Undocumented migrants ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Mexico , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Dismissal , Access to InformationResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: Neither the workers nor the labour contracting firm, El Gallinero, know why the contract was cut so abruptily and joined workers in a protest. Delta Egg Farm parent company, Cal-Maine Foods, did not respond to request for comment. At the beginning of June, it was reported that at least 100 workers were hired back, including some undocumented employees. Some others were rehired by another contractor used by Delta Egg Farm, including those who had protested their terminations.
Source type: News outlet
...
Officials from El Gallinero, a Delta labor contracting firm, said 150 to 200 workers it supplied to Delta Egg Farm have been let go or were to be let go this week and they, along with many of the displaced workers, demonstrated against the sudden and unexpected move on Wednesday.
"They herded us out like animals," said another former worker, also Peruvian and also unwilling to give his name.
Reps from Delta Egg Farm's parent company, Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, didn't immediately respond to queries Thursday seeking comment. But the turn of events underscores the precarious position of undocumented workers, particularly as debate over illegal immigration intensifies, and their role in the U.S. workforce, especially in jobs requiring intense physical labor...
Pedro Gonzalez, an El Gallinero administrator who took part in Wednesday's demonstration, suspects many of the El Gallinero workers are undocumented, as several stated when asked about their migratory status by KSL.com. Many are from Peru, Gonzalez said, and some may be seeking asylum. However, when they present their work documents, El Gallinero officials take them at face value... Gonzalez and Carlos Lazaro, the owner of El Gallinero, don't know why Delta Egg Farm and Cal-Maine officials abruptly ended the relationship with El Gallinero and got rid of the employees supplied by the contractor...
"We don't know what's going to happen," said Antonio Morales, who is originally from Mexico and had worked for Delta Egg Farm and El Gallinero for 14 years. "Fourteen years, and one day to the next, they fire us. It isn't fair."...