Posted on: Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Fresh Del Monte layoff of 55 contested
By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. closed its Waiakamilo plant yesterday, laying off about 55 workers who said they were asked to choose between looking for other work or rejoining the company at nearly half their former wages.
Local 142 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Board against the company, accusing it of violating labor laws and bargaining in bad faith.
"The ILWU is in a big battle," said Ray Camacho, director of ILWU's O'ahu division, at a press conference as dozens of laid-off workers and their families stood behind him. "To be thrown out on the streets like this, it's inexcusable."
A Fresh Del Monte executive said that the company has offered jobs to 14 workers, who would transfer to the plant in Kunia at current salaries and benefits. The others can apply for 154 other job openings within the company.
"The facts will show that there hasn't been any unfair labor practices," said David Anderson, Fresh Del Monte's vice president of North American production and grower sourcing.
Anderson added that the company's severance package was more generous than that stipulated by the labor contract.
Camacho said that neither the union nor workers have seen postings for the jobs that Fresh Del Monte said are available. Moreover, if employees apply for other job openings, they would have to start at $6 an hour and enjoy fewer benefits, he said.
The Waiakamilo workers, many of whom had been with Fresh Del Monte for decades, were making $10 to $17 an hour, Camacho said.
In April, the company said that it would close the Del Monte Fresh Produce (Hawaii) Inc. chilled and frozen operations at the Waiakamilo plant and transfer jobs to Sanger, Calif., or the Kunia plant.
The company wanted to move the fresh fruit cutting and freezing operations closer to customers on the Mainland so the product would arrive fresher, Anderson said. Under the old system, fruit would be cut and then flown to the Mainland.
Fresh Del Monte, a fresh fruit producer, is one of two companies spun off from the former Del Monte Corp. R.J. Reynolds bought Del Monte Corp. in 1979 and sold Fresh Del Monte and Del Monte Foods, which cans fruits and vegetables, a decade later.
Dionarrisa Tabion, a laid-off trimmer, had been with the company for 11 years. She earned $10.63 an hour. The Waipahu resident said she just bought a home.
"What am I going to do now? My husband's salary pays the mortgage but mine pays for utilities and other expenses," said the mother of three, who said she has decided to look for employment in hospitals and food service firms.
Aurelio Gumayagay, a box operator from Waipahu, said he might as well work at McDonald's.
"At least, I don't have to work in the fields in the heat," he said.
