Some workers at Amy's Kitchen allege a pattern of mistreatment as new plant unexpectedly closes
Amy’s Kitchen, the country’s top maker of vegetarian frozen and canned food, in recent months has grappled with angry comments from consumers and calls for boycotts that are at odds with its family-run, ethical reputation, with workers alleging unsafe conditions, injuries and attempts to stop unionization.
On Monday, workers at its newest plant in San Jose, California, said they were abruptly told that the plant was closing because it was losing money due to inflation.
Six workers at the San Jose factory, which had only been open since 2021, told NBC News they have experienced demeaning behavior by supervisors and unsafe conditions. In interviews in the weeks leading up to the plant’s sudden closure, and in additional interviews on Monday, four of those workers said there was an unofficial policy that they could not use the bathroom outside lunch and other designated break times.
Employees at the company’s manufacturing headquarters not far away in Santa Rosa, California, have said they were subject to unsafe production quotas and repetitive motion injuries, according to previous reporting by NBC News. In January, one worker filed a formal complaint on behalf of all workers at the Santa Rosa factory with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which said its investigation is ongoing.
Amy’s Kitchen, responding to the previous negative publicity from both the Santa Rosa and San Jose factories, wrote in a post on its website earlier this year that allegations of unsafe worker conditions, denial of bathroom breaks, union-busting and lack of access to drinking water were completely false. Reached by email one week ago, CEO and co-founder Andy Berliner referred NBC News to company spokesman Paul Schiefer, who declined to comment on the allegations workers shared with NBC News. When asked about the reason for the plant closure, he attached a statement given to reporters citing inflation and supply chain issues but did not elaborate.
Raul Vargas said he showed up to work at the San Jose plant at 3 a.m. on Monday for his usual 12 hour shift doing kitchen prep work. It seemed like a normal day, he said. But a little before 7 a.m., he and others in the morning shift said they were ushered into a hallway by the breakroom for a meeting.
There, the factory’s plant manager and several representatives from Human Resources, along with Spanish and Vietnamese language translators, said the plant was closing. Workers were instructed to grab their personal belongings and leave, and that a taxi or Uber would be called for them if they did not have a ride back, according to Vargas and other workers laid off on Monday morning.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/factory-workers-amys-kitchen-allege-mistreatment-company-closes-plant-rcna36249
I'm about done with Amy's, how about you?
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