Workers call on Chipotle to stand up for better conditions at supplier’s plant

CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel, 412-562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org

Huhtamaki Employees Speak Out at Fast Food Giant’s Annual Meeting

DENVER (May 13) — Workers from the Huhtamaki packaging plant in Commerce, Calif., spoke today at the annual meeting of fast food giant Chipotle, calling on the company to support them in their fight for better working conditions and better treatment from their employer, which supplies packaging for Chipotle products.

“Chipotle says it holds itself to a higher standard – this is a company that prides itself on creating ‘Food with Integrity,’ ” said Duane Calloway, a 7-year employee of Huhtamaki. “If that’s true, Chipotle should insist that those same standards apply to suppliers like Huhtamaki.”

Workers at the Commerce plant are seeking improved working conditions, better wages and a stronger voice on the job. Many of the workers struggle to support their families and sometimes have to work in 100 degree temperatures. Huhtamaki has largely ignored the workers’ concerns.

Huhtamaki, a Finnish conglomerate that produces cartons and containers for food and other consumer goods, has 15,000 employees at 61 facilities in 30 countries, including 3,500 workers at 21 facilities in the United States. Workers at four of those plants are members of the USW.

Union members and other working people from the Denver area joined the Commerce workers at today’s meeting asking Chipotle shareholders to hold Huhtamaki accountable for the company’s bad actions.

The workers asked Chipotle shareholders to demand that Huhtamaki end its abuse of workers and improve substandard wages and working conditions, as well as to put limits on executive compensation.

Last spring, the USW and the AFL-CIO released a report on Huhtamaki that demonstrated how the company’s expansion strategy in the United States was based on creating low-wage, precarious employment while threatening the job security and living standards of unionized employees. The report can be found at: http://www.usw.org/workplaces/paper/Huhtamaki-Group-report-FINAL-2.pdf

The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies.

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