Forest Park- Yesterday, fired workers from one of Chicago’s iconic food brands, Ferrara Pan Candy, delivered a petition to the candy giant demanding their jobs back after being fired by the company earlier this month. Backed by the Chicago Workers Collaborative (CWC) and other labor rights organizations, fired workers, some of whom had worked at the factory for more than a decade, said they were unfairly fired and demanded reinstatement.
“I have worked at Ferrara for two years through a staffing agency having the same responsibilities as others without the same benefits as direct-hire workers,” said Roberta Miranda, now a former worker of the company. Miranda had worked at the factory through a third party temporary staffing agency, Multi Temps Staffing. Miranda and other workers believe they were fired due to voicing complaints about unsafe working conditions at the company. The company has a sorted history of OSHA violations which workers believe is still an issue at the company.
Fired workers are requesting to meet with Ferrara’s management to discuss their demands as follows:
The workers fired from Elite Staffing are hired as direct-hires with Ferrara Candy,
Ferrara Candy institutes adequate safety training, and
Equal treatment of direct-hires and temporary staffing agency workers as to pay, breaks and workloads.
“We are going to continue to fight for these workers' jobs back," said Rosalia Tenorio, CWC’s Leadership and Advocacy Manager. “When workers speak up, they shouldn’t be afraid of getting fired or laid off by a staffing agency. What these workers need is equal pay, safer working conditions and dignity.”
Link to Facebook Live Stream
Spanish-language Media Contacts: Isaura Martinez, CWC Organizer, 708.237.9542 isaura@chicagoworkerscollaborative.org and Estrellita Hernandez, CWC Organizer, 872.214.2701 estrellita@chicagoworkerscollaborative.org
English-language Media Contacts: Tim Bell, 773.230.0351, tbell@chicagoworkercollaborative.org
Founded in 2000, the Chicago Workers' Collaborative promotes the creation of stable, living wage jobs with race, class, and gender equity for precarious workers in the Chicago region