Business & Tech
Striking Latino Workers Demand Face-to-Face Negotiations with Cretex
A delegation of Latino employees converged upon Cretex headquarters in Elk River, MN Tuesday morning, according to a release.
The Cretex Companies strike branched out from Shakopee Tuesday morning, with those Latino workers on strike heading to Elk River, MN to the company's headquarters.
According to a press release, the group of employees went to Elk River to demand a meeting with the company’s leadership after their union’s request to negotiate non-discrimination language was rejected.
Members of Laborers Local 563 went on strike June 19 after negotiations on a new contract for 38 members broke down because of a Cretex proposal to stop company contributions to workers’ pensions and offer a company match to 401(k) contributions instead. Fifteen members of Laborers Local 563 filed federal civil rights charges in July with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) against Cretex for its treatment of Latino workers, according to the release.
“We will continue to make our presence felt here until they commit to a face-to-face discussion,” Cretex employee Julio Ocampo Sanchez said in the release. “Something needs to be done about their way Latino workers are mistreated and disrespected at this company.”
According to the release, all 15 say that they have been subjected to ongoing harassment, intimidation, and unequal treatment along the following lines:
Use of insulting and offensive language – such as statements to the effect that “Mexicans have no brains” and “Mexicans are too stupid to use computers” – and harassment of Latino immigrants for speaking to each other in Spanish during breaks.
Unequal treatment of Latino and immigrant workers, who are assigned more difficult and dangerous work, and disciplined more frequently and more harshly than their peers.
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