Print This Post
Jun
27
Judy Carlin has been following the story of the 17 year old illegal immigrant and farmworker, Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died last month from the heat of vineyard fields and a lack of respect for human rights. Please read her posts here, but most importantly, read her most recent post, here, which explains the precise connection between Trader Joe’s and Maria’s place of employment (which profited from her illegal status).
Trader Joe’s responded to my outrage that Two Buck Chuck was not pulled from the shelves with a carefully worded email asserting that their hands are clean because an independent contractor (Merced Farm Laborers) employed Maria and that the vineyard (West Coast Grape Farming) where Maria collapsed was owned by a company that made wines other than Two Buck Chuck.
Whoa – I did my homework here Joe and you are dancing around the truth. There is more to the story here than meets the eye and you must be aware of it.
Remember all the hoopla and media you got after you made the deal with Bronco giving you exclusive rights to distribute Two Buck Chuck. You knew Bronco had the power and ability to deliver the volume (10,000 million cases in the first two years alone) to meet your demand.
You should read the entire post to see just how obvious and known the connections appear to be.
The AFL-CIO chapter in Los Angeles provides links for contacting Trader Joe’s and letting them know how you feel.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:49 pm June 27th, 2008 in Business, Immigration, Law, Social Issues
Comments
26 Responses to “Trader Joe’s, Two-Buck Chuck and the death of Maria Jimenez”
Leave a Reply
2010 WE Magazine 101 Women Bloggers to Watch
Category Specific RSS
Pepper Pike Cleveland+ Politics Women Ohio Elections Law Jewish
by Tips and TricksNews Now
Thank you Jill -
The governor signed legislation in 2005 requiring employers to provide workers with four cups of water per hour, shaded resting areas, paid break periods of at least 5 minutes, safety training and an emergency plan.
Also working 9.5hrs shifts at 17 is against the law, I wonder if this poor girl new she was pregnant?
The vineyard will be taken to court and they really have little chance of defending themselves, since the girl was under age and never should have been working that long of hours.
“The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) provides employment-related protections to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers and is administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment Standards Administration.”
http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-msawpa.htm
Unfortunately the laws get broken and instances such as this bring it to the industries attention, somebody died, actually two people since this young woman was 2-month pregnant.
Does Mexico insure that it migrant workers entering the US are aware of there rights? The US does publish the laws and right of migrant workers and even in Espanol.
However its the same old story, if a person calls foul or says looks I am not getting treated correctly under the law, then who is there to defend them, sure we got journalists making us all aware of this, but this article does nothing more than attack the retailer. Trader Joes does not treat its employees with disregard to labor laws. It really is above and beyond for them to take on the role of policing labor at suppliers.
This young woman was at the lowest social economic position, so why was she pregnant? Why bring a child into the world at that point and at 17 years old? Obviously not so wise and so is accepting work in 90+ degrees, ultimately we all have choices. Wearing proper clothes and drinking plenty of water is ultimately your responsibility. Did she have a choice? Of course she did, she was not wise enough to know it.
People only get walked all over when they are to stupid to speak up, the lack of understanding of the law and one’s own body and the warning signs, did her parents make sure she drank plenty of water or at least teach her that working in the sun can kill you?
She was not offered water? Is that the same as no water was available? Did she ask to take a break? Was she told that she could not a have break or any water?
You make a lot of good points, Oengus. My interpretation of the role Trader Joe’s plays in this incident is that it has the ability to use its purchase power to influence the supplier’s behavior. It’s not to suggest that Trader Joe’s, itself, fails to treat its employees well.
Do you think that’s an unfair expectation of how a corporation can use its might? I don’t.
I want to laugh my ass off, ooooh should have known better, laws are published,… Blah, blah, blah.
What exactly does anybody expect will be the results of the establishment of a disenfranchized serf class in service to profit? This is about a whole 1/4 step from slave labor. Illegal hiring has impacts across our society, drastic ones, and the desire for profits and consumers demands for cheaper products rule. Estimates for product cost savings by consumers in labor intensive products range around $0.15/$1.00.
That is evidently the price of a life. Plutocratic apologists like this drive me nuts.
I just sent a letter thanking Trader Joe’s for offering wine at low prices. I’ve not tried it, but they do have delicious trail mix.
Unions have a long history of racism and discrimination. When they claim to be concerned about a worker, they are really just worried about keeping their own wages artificially high.
Really Matt? Artificially high? By your post I’d guess the closest you get to callouses is paper cuts. What you and the rest of the plutocratic apologists miss is that the middle class income is held up by the bottom, not dragged up by the top. Historical records show this, clearly. St Ronnie to curb, please.
The IRS can help you out as can the Census Bureau with the numbers.
Today Unions have a pretty long history of diversity and protection from discrimination. I’ll try real hard not to get real pissed about what is actual racism, see dead Maria about it.
Jill,
I work right beside the people who work for me in a hard dangerous job and the exploitation of the worker makes me furious. I lack any sense of humor whatever on this issue. Statistically my job is more dangerous than being a cop or fireman but…who cares – except the insurance cos?
Trader Joes and Costco are my two favorite stores, but that is neither here nor there.
Many of us who complain about illegal immigration are not doing so because of xenophobia.
Rather it is because of the exploitation of the worker.
So by requiring these workers to be paid more, treated better, et cetera and thus removing their competitive advantage, you are saying that they should have no right to a job.
This is just another example of racist union thugs looking out for themselves, while pretending to care about immigrants.
Chuck, unions were formed, especially in the south, out of discrimination. Read the congressional record over the debates over the Davis Bacon Act, as they were specifically debating how to keep non-white workers who were willing to work for less money away from building roads. Unions helped racists lower the cost of their bigotry.
Jack @8 – I agree. It’s really that simple.
That, and the fact that as long as law enforcement and laws themselves allow for employers to continue the exploitation, we know who to blame.
What always angers and saddens me in these situations is that those employers are made up of people too. How is it that they place profit and breaking the law (because it won’t be enforced against them or because the sanctions are so minimal) above basic human rights AND the alleged outcry against illegal immigration, that they probably support with their political contributions but do nothing to alter with their hiring practices?
Thanks for the comment.
Also Jack said…
I complain about illegal immigration as a law enforcement issue. Our southern border isn’t closed or open… We simply have a mess. But conservatives like me have to make sure not to dance into Lou Dobbs xenophobe territory.
As long as we know who is coming in and coming out, America would be foolish to turn away labor of any sort from other countries… be it farm workers, doctors, and everything in between.
Chuck I share your lack of humor on this subject. There’s nothing humorous at all about people making money off of treating other people as commodities.
Businesses are amoral, and must put a return to their shareholders above all else. We can enforce current laws, but unless workers are being made to work at the end of a gun, Jill’s argument couldn’t be any less convincing to me.
Out of these comments from fuzzy good hearted liberals, you can see that believe that outcomes don’t matter as long as you have good intentions. You all should remember that by taking away their comparative advantage, you are taking away their ability to have a job to provide for themselves.
This thread shows the true failure of our public education system, which spends too much time putting condoms on cucumbers and not enough time teaching economics.
I’d say the educational system has failed Matt rather seriously. The exchange of avoidance of starvation for your profit is an old one and has nasty outcomes for the plutocrats such as yourself (I doubt you’re more than an apologist). Cost of labor gets passed on to the consumer, your argument is that an 8-15% increase in the cost of labor intensive goods justifies serfdom.
You can’t find a single historical period to back up your junk but you’ll suck up to St RR’s followers in the face of anything rational, much less ethical. There are a couple of things seriously wrong with this country and you’re one of them.
8-15%? Are you just making up numbers? What are you talking about?
Nothing is more unethical than your desire at reform which could easily jeopardize the jobs that they already have. Those jobs are are obviously better than the available alternatives, and you don’t change that by legislative decree.
My “junk” is classical liberalism. Free markets and unleashing profit seeking entrepreneurs is responsible for an incredible amount of good throughout the world. Read this book for some incredible case studies which prove this point beyond any shadow of a doubt: http://tinyurl.com/5ubb9q
You’re right about one thing Matt, it is classic junk. What free market is it you’re referring to? The US economy has been managed since the time Jefferson and Hamilton feuded over who would win in it. St Ronnie wasn’t too bad at grade B movies, but both your grasp of economics doesn’t rise to that level.
BTW, illegal hiring is illegal, already. It isn’t enforced but then in your model only laws benefiting plutocrats are real laws. Yes, I’ve studied the literature on the effects of paying competitive wages in labor intensive products and I also own one of those businesses.
What the hell does ‘Making Poor Nations Rich’ have to do with the US? Are you completely in the tank with stupid? Transparency and the rule of law aren’t exactly what you’d call common currency in 3rd world nations. You write here to present the idea that an improvement in those s**t holes has something to do with illegal hiring in the US or labor laws? Make a little longer reach why don’t you?
You write junk parroting Republican junk about capitalism that hasn’t ever existed in this country and particularly doesn’t exist today and you expect to be taken seriously? I defy you to give one example of a single free market in existance in this country today. Just one. Be very careful because I’ll blow you out of the water if you use more junk.
It’s everyone responsibility to know the law, if a retailer is in knowledge that a supplier is breaking the law then they are complicit if they continue to do business with them. I think this instance needs further investigation, I am not particularly fond of retailers or any business using might to influence. Using might to influence can go wrong, it can create undue influence, stick to the law I believe.
The individual had the right to take a break, she had the right to stop and drink water. We do not know what happened, we do not know if this vineyard had one instance or not, what we do know is that the individual was only 17 and that working 9.5 hr shifts is not legal or a minor, so it has not to do with might but the vendor acknowledging that and suspending their relationship until they can be sure that all individuals working at the vineyard are within the legal boundaries.
When a migrant worker is contracted they actually sign a contract, where is this individuals? It can not exist because it is in violation of the law. In California the contract must state the right of the worker and them signing it is acknowledging the conditions of employment. That is a big red flag if the vineyard is employing minors and not abiding by the law in doing so.
Believe it or not if you have a vineyard and it harvest certain amount of grapes that requires a certain amount of labor and all of that labor is required by law to be documented.
http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/mspa.htm
What is sad is that a person has to die to even get anyone’s attention, what we do not know are all the facts. For instance read this article from UC of Berkley and stop thinking of migrant workers as slaves, they shop for work competitively and can earn much more for the hard work they do then you think.
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article22.htm
Often the work is paid by piece, the harder and faster you work the more you can make.
You completely avoided defending your 8-15% comment, typical for a leftist keyboard warrior.
That book explains universal principles of how economic growth and prosperity happen. Instead of output simply being a factor of input, the most important and frequently ignored factor is that of the quality of institutions. And the case studies show that as countries have better smaller governments, lower taxes, fewer government inspectors, et cetera the better off everyone in that country is. Those principles apply in America, in the poorest parts of Africa, and everywhere else.
You are an angry, bitter old man. I will pray for you.
Businesses are amoral, and must put a return to their shareholders above all else.
and
You are an angry, bitter old man. I will pray for you.
For Matt N.
You are a fascist. You and your kind represent a kind of thinking that is destroying this planet and enslaving most of the human race. Profits above people – never! I will not pray for you but hope you and your kind rot in hell, if it exists, for your philosophy that dehumanizes all of us for the benefit of a few. People like you make me proud to be a socialist.
I hope you see the face of Maria in your dreams you heartless, evil bastard.
“better smaller governments, lower taxes, fewer government inspectors, et cetera the better off everyone in that country is.”
I strongly suggest you hop into your way back machine and live in the 1890s where you’d be at home.
You’ve got the bit in your teeth now, so let’s have the US produce China products to poison us, screw education – kids work cheap, we can have rivers on fire again and paint jobs disolving on cars from the air we breath, if you don’t starve you’re over-paid, you really should expect to leave limbs on the factory floor…
For farm wages try this:
http://www.therationalradical.com/documents/farm_workers.htm
If you’re actually interested in it there are a lot of analysis out there with numbers that vary and I used higher ones to play fair. You’re not interested or you’d know that labor costs are generally one of the lowest percentage contributors to costs of consumer goods. What gets labor whacked is that it is the most subject to being lowered.
But, then you already knew all this. Any study of markets shows this with a few exceptions like the Big 3 pension & health costs killing them vs everybody else. Your agenda is clear.
Your level of ass – ness makes me beg you to please not include me in prayers to your god of greed. I’m perfectly happy that any god you pray to damn me, I’ll take my company as a benefit of it.
Oy, gentlemen – you are giving me shpilkis in my genecktagazoidt! I’m getting verklempt.
Please – if you want to abuse Matt, can you just email him or go to his blog and do it there?
This has been a public service announcement in hackneyed Yiddish.
…or you could go to any thread at Plunderbund and berate Naug Daug all you want. We consider it sport over there.
This was worth the price of admission of this thread all together: “Are you completely in the tank with stupid?”
Glad to help, Eric. Feel free to appropriate as merited.
a trip to the principal for me. . .
:::: shuffles his feet looking down :::::
I’m sawry Mrs. Zimon. I wuz a very bad boy. . . I will twy to be bedder. . .
But. . .
I’m usually good at Yiddish and I recognize every word in your post except “genecktagazoidt.”
What does THAT mean?
It’s a Saturday Night Life sketch, you pud.
bite me fascist.