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Hundreds protest Ideal Snacks layoffs

Matt Shortall - Staff Writer
Posted 5/19/15

LIBERTY — About 200 people gathered at LaPolt Park in Liberty on Monday afternoon, carrying picket signs and chanting calls for justice.

The gathering was in response to the approximately 200 …

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Hundreds protest Ideal Snacks layoffs

Posted

LIBERTY — About 200 people gathered at LaPolt Park in Liberty on Monday afternoon, carrying picket signs and chanting calls for justice.

The gathering was in response to the approximately 200 undocumented workers laid off from Ideal Snacks in Liberty earlier this month due to unfiled paperwork, particularly Form I-9. This is a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form used by employers to verify the identity and eligibility of their employees.

Ideal Snacks has maintained that it acted in accordance with the law. In a statement released Tuesday, the company stated "the staff were given the opportunity to confirm their work authorization documents and did not comply with the request. When they did not re-submit documentation, we had to terminate their employment to remain compliant with the law."

The protestors left LaPolt Park and proceeded down North Main Street chanting “no justice, no snacks.”

The march ended outside the entrance to the Ideal Snacks Corporation on Mill Street. The view of the factory was obscured by a recently erected green mesh fence with signs posted warning trespassers they're under video surveillance.

Several private security guards hired by Ideal Snacks stood on the sidelines with video and digital cameras. “These situations can escalate quickly,” said one security guard, who didn't want to be named. “We're here to make sure if anything does happen, we know how it started.”

Those fears were unrealized, however, as the crowd of largely women and children was peaceful and energetic.

“I didn't expect there would be any problems,” said Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty, who was among the minimal police presence at the gathering. “I know a lot of these people personally and they're all peaceful and law-abiding.”

At Mill Street, former workers, mostly Spanish-speaking only, addressed the crowd through a bullhorn, describing unsafe working conditions, abusive treatment at the hands of supervisors and even allegations of sexual harassment.

Gonzalo Martinez de Vedia, an organizer from the Worker Justice Center of New York collaborating with the Rural and Migrant Ministry, translated their stories into English for the crowd.

“I think this was one of the best demonstrations we've organized in a long time,” said Martinez. “When I see the fence they (Ideal Snacks) put up and the private security they hired, it tells me they're scared.”

According to former employees like Diaz Aracel and Celso Ochoa, Ideal's management instilled a culture of fear into the workplace.

Through an interpreter, Aracel described how she's progressively losing her eyesight due to “strong chemicals” she was given to grease machinery with. Supervisors did not provide her with any form of eye or skin protection, she said.

“It feels like there's a cloud forming inside my eye,” said Aracel pointing to her right eye.

She said she went to the doctor and learned the discomfort was caused by a serious infection. She received eye drops to treat the infection, but working on $9 an hour and with no health insurance provided by Ideal Snacks, it's hard to purchase the $210 prescription and still provide for her two children.

In previous statements from company lawyers before the rally, Ideal Snacks defended itself as having “a strong safety record,” pointing to a clean record with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Celso Ochoa, a former quality control supervisor, described the hiring process.

“When I started working there, they filled out the application for me,” Celso said through an interpreter. “They would bring me paperwork written in English. When I said that I couldn't read it, they told me to just sign it anyway.”

Included in their statement, Ideal says they “respect freedom of speech and the right for people's voices to be heard" and “are saddened by the loss of Ideal Snacks' family members.”

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