News

Brandworkers Win Victory for Fair Wage and Workplace Respect

North Star Fund began supporting Brandworkers International and their Wild Edibles campaign since soon after their inception in 2007. This week, they announced a huge win for two-dozen recent immigrant workers, who can now count on respect and legally enforceable protections-- and a fair wage. North Star Fund's circle of support helped make it happen.  Here's the full story:

All over New York, immigrant workers labor under unsafe conditions for compensation that doesn't even meet federal minimum wage requirements. Because in many cases these workers are undocumented, their employers think they hold a trump card over them that guards against protesting any form of abuse. The members of Brandworkers International recently settled a case against seafood purveyor Wild Edibles that proves that even the most marginalized workers can speak up and can get results-- provided that they have the resources and support.

Working at Wild Edibles was rough. Workers were typically paid $8.50 an hour for a 60 hour work week, with no overtime pay. That comes to barely $20,000 a year. Working conditions were hazardous. If a worker spoke up about anything-- large or relatively small-- management would retaliate by blowing cold air on them while they worked and heaping on demeaning racial slurs. When they couldn't take any more, the Wild Edible employees reached out to Brandworkers International (a North Star Fund grantee since 2007) and got busy making change.

North Star Fund's latest annual report featured a case study of Brandworkers two year campaign with the Wild Edibles workers for a safe and respectful workplace that observed federal employment laws. You can read the full case study here.

In a press release, Brandworkers  and Wild Edibles have finally reached an agreement-- after two years of a grassroots campaign that saw over 75 high end restaurants stop serving Wild Edibles products. Their campaign was a creative blend of grassroots action, media advocacy, and community organizing. The agreement changes things dramatically for the better. According to the press release, both parties are "requesting that the judge, Robert E. Gerber, of Federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, approve a settlement for over $340,000 in unpaid overtime as well as compensation for workers who were retaliated against for asserting their rights; a binding protective mechanism for collective activity; and an enforceable commitment to place Wild Edibles into compliance with all workplace laws including health & safety and anti-discrimination protections."

You can read the entire press release here.

Congratulations to the members of Brandworkers. You have proved that spirited campaigns for economic justice can win real improvements in the lives of workers across all job sectors.