Employees have accused supplement maker iHealth of firing them while they were striking against workplace conditions.
The workers, members of Teamsters Local 647, said they received a text message last Tuesday saying they were fired for not showing up for work for two consecutive days.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) joined the workers Monday to build support for legislation aimed at cracking down on some of those conditions.
“We're talking about what every American expects, what every American is due – which is basic safety and human working conditions on the job,” Blumenthal said during a news conference in Cromwell.
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Blumenthal joined the workers outside the Cromwell office of DSM Firmintech, the European-based parent company of iHealth.
The 11 fired employees worked at iHealth’s Enfield warehouse.
“It's just the way they treat us – no one should be treated this way,” said Emmanuel Gonzalez, who was a senior processor at iHealth.
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DSM Firmintech didn’t respond to a request seeking comment Monday afternoon.
Gonzalez and his coworkers formed a union earlier this year to try and negotiate better workplace conditions.
They said things got worse, though, including iHealth extending their workdays and adding a sixth work day to their weeks. The union saw it as retaliation and filed a complaint with the National Labor Review Board.
“You essentially can’t punish workers for just exercising their right and, you know, forming a union successfully in their workplace,” Teamsters organizer Ruby Clarke said.
They said iHealth also has unrealistic demands, creating conditions that led to one worker injuring his shoulder.
Blumenthal is a co-sponsor of the Warehouse Workers Protection Act, which would prohibit companies from interfering with breaks and from setting unrealistic quotas.
The bill has one Republican sponsor: Sen. Josh Hawley, (R) Missouri.
“Corporations too often prioritize profit over their workers’ safety and well-being, treating them like cogs in a machine,” Hawley said in a statement. “It has to stop.”
Blumenthal acknowledged the bill is unlikely to advance before the end of the year, when Republicans will retake control of the Senate.
Republicans already control Congress and President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House on Jan. 20. Blumenthal hopes Hawley can win over his fellow Republicans.
