Last month the United Steelworkers filed Unfair Labour Practice charges against multi-national packaging corporation Huhtamaki in Commerce, California.
The company operates in the UK, EU, Middle East, Australia, South Asia, China, Latin America and Africa, and according to its website the company says: “We support the International Labor Organization (ILO) Principles and don’t use any forced, involuntary, or child labor in making our products”.
Presumbaly supporting the ILO Principles it also supports the right to form independent unions?
The charges state that Huhtamaki violated U.S. labour law by taking the following actions:
On or about mid-January of 2015, the above named Employer, through its officers, agents and representatives, threatened Union supporters with more restrictive and discriminatorily imposed PTO policies in retaliation for their Union support, thereby interfering with employees Section 7 rights.
On or about February 12th, 2015, the above named Employer, through its officers, agents and representatives, discriminatorily threatened and harassed a lead Union supporter about his work and overtime schedule in retaliation for his Union support, thereby interfering with employees Section 7 rights.
On or about March 16th, 2015, the above named Employer, through its officers, agents and representatives, discriminatorily imposed new and more onerous break schedules on Union supporters in retaliation for their Union support and to prevent communication about the Union, thereby interfering with employees Section 7 rights.
On or about March 19th, 2015, the above named Employer, through its officers, agents and representatives, discriminatorily imposed more onerous working conditions and changed the work title and job duties of Arnold Moreno in retaliation for his Union support, thereby interfering with employees Section 7 rights.
The charges are being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
A copy of the Unfair Labor Practice charges is attached here.Â
