Members of the Brown Labor Alliance have protested food supplier Chef Solutions' allegedly coercive anti-unionization tactics by distributing leaflets at local Boston Market restaurants this month. Chef Solutions is a chief supplier to the restaurant chain.
Seth Leibson '05 and Chris Hu '06 organized BLA's effort in affiliation with the United Auto Workers and with help from other campus organizations, such as MeCHA and the Latin American Students Association.
"We are making them stop their illegal practices and allow free and fair election (on whether to unionize)," Leibson said.
On March 15, Providence police officers escorted Brenda Rubenstein '07 and Madeliene Lipshie-Williams '07 out of a shopping area on North Main Street that includes a Boston Market.
"The police asked us to move to the sidewalk, and the manager presented them with an official lease showing that the curb we were standing on was private property," Rubenstein wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
According to UAW organizer Peggy Sharey, managers at Chef Solution's factory in North Haven, Conn., have used sexual abuse, physical assaults and death threats to intimidate the predominately immigrant Latina women from unionizing.
"What we have seen in this company are some of the worst tactics we have seen for 30 years," Sharey said. "The reason that we are supporting this consumer boycott is because this company is one of the most unethical we have seen in decades."
Susan Zerin, director of corporate communications for Chef Solutions, said the violations were committed before Chef Solutions owned the North Haven plant.
"The issues of the North Haven plant are mostly legacy issues that predate our ownership of the plant. Since acquiring the North Haven plant, we have hired new management," Zerin said.
Chef Solutions is owned by the parent company Lufthansa. After a reorganization, Lufthansa handed U.S. food services, including ownership of the North Haven factory, to its subsidiary Chef Solutions, Sharey said.
"Lufthansa has owned the factory the whole time," said Sharey. "This company has never admitted that they have done anything wrong. How can you ever create an environment where (employees) can exercise their free choice to unionize?"
The National Labor Relations Board has charged Chef Solutions with 29 law violations and invalidated an employee election held in 2001 in which a majority voted against adopting a union, according to the UAW.
"These are all issues that were part of the original complaint. We signed a settlement two years ago. We have hired new management (at the North Haven plant)," Zerin said. "We signed a settlement agreement and are in negotiation with the union about when to hold the election and have been ready for the past year."
The UAW maintains that continued tactics of fear make an election unfair. Chef Solutions has made it clear that it will not tolerate a union, Sharey said.
"If the company had any sincerity about turning over a new leaf, they would have no problem having a public debate instead of making the workers feel like they are at risk," she said.
Chef Solutions produces prepared foods for multiple restaurants and fast-food chains in America, including Boston Market. The UAW is boycotting Boston Market because it was one of the few companies that unequivocally supported Chef Solutions, according to Sharey.
BLA members said they will continue to distribute flyers urging customers to boycott the restaurant.
"Since standing on the public sidewalk by the entrance of the shopping plaza would be as effective as not flyering at all, from here on in, we intend to continue flyering in front of Boston Market (each day) until the manager does call the police on us," Rubenstein wrote.
Representatives from Boston Market did not return calls for comment.
