USA: Undocumented workers in Chicago food sector exposed to hazardous conditions by staffing agencies, says New York Times; incl. cos comments
Summary
Date Reported: 21 Dec 2024
Location: United States of America
Companies
Surge Staffing - Employer , Rana Meal Solutions - ClientAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Venezuela , Cleaning & maintenance , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Occupational Health & Safety , InjuriesResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: After the accident, OSHA fined Rana Meal Solutions $178,118 for exposing workers to hazards from moving parts and other violations. Neither company responded to journalist's request for comment.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 21 Dec 2024
Location: United States of America
Companies
Xcel Staffing Solutions - Employer , Miracapo Pizza - Client , Newman's Own - Other Value Chain Entity , Hunt Brothers Pizza - Other Value Chain Entity , Quest Nutrition - Other Value Chain Entity , Henry Crown and Company - Parent CompanyAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Honduras , Cleaning & maintenance , Women , Unknown migration status )Issues
Deaths , Occupational Health & Safety , Access to Justice & Legal ProtectionResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Newman's Own said it takes worker safety seriously; the other companies did not respond to journalists. Miracapo was fined $2.8 million. OSHA records show that the company contested the fine, but offer no further details. A lawsuit filed by the family was dismissed after Miracapo’s lawyer successfully argued the company could not be held responsible because Ms. López Hernández was employed by Xcel, the staffing agency; a settlement was later reached but the family are yet to receive payment.
Source type: News outlet
“Death on the Night Shift at Frozen Pizza Factories in Chicago”
… [The] agency, Snider-Blake Personnel, sent him to scrub machines at Rich Products Corporation, which makes food products that have been sold at stores like Walmart and distributed by suppliers like Sysco…
…With staffing agencies acting as middlemen, companies can sidestep responsibility for the hiring and treatment of these workers, even as they profit from their labor…
Snider-Blake did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Rich said the company does not hire undocumented workers…
At a Rana Meal Solutions factory … The man, an immigrant from Venezuela working for Surge Staffing…
… an undocumented woman from Honduras … was decapitated while working … at the Miracapo Pizza Company in Gurnee. The facility has … shipped frozen pizzas for… Newman’s Own, Hunt Brothers Pizza and Quest Nutrition…
The woman…had been sent by Xcel Staffing Solutions…
…the company was owned by an affiliate of Henry Crown and Company…It was acquired by … Brynwood Partners this year…
Miracapo Pizza, Rana Meal Solutions, Xcel Staffing, Surge Staffing, Henry Crown and Company, Brynwood Partners, Walmart, Hunt Brothers Pizza and Quest Nutrition did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment…
Sysco and Newman’s Own said that they take worker safety seriously…