An Open Letter to Hostess
Hostess Brands
Well-paying, regular jobs support healthy and thriving families, communities, and neighborhoods, free of poverty, hopelessness, and crime. However, millions of good jobs have been replaced by perma-temp positions. Public policy, driven by corporate interests, is a chief culprit of this great unraveling: wages have fallen, attacks on workers’ rights to act collectively have weakened unions. Government agencies tasked with enforcing workplace protections have been deprived of the needed funds to ensure compliance. In Chicago, many brand-name companies have adopted a “Segregationist Employment Model” that uses temporary agencies to divide workers by race and immigration status, degrade jobs, and repress wages. For years, workers at the huge industrial Cloverhill bakery in Chicago's west side Galewood neighborhood—that produces for Sara Lee, Entenmann’s, Aldi’s, Little Debbie’s –have been fighting racism and abuse. Recently, Hostess bought the plant. We have the chance to demand change for all our communities. Please support this effort.
Petition by
To:
Hostess Brands
From:
[Your Name]
We--workers, community members, and consumers--stand united for Justice at Cloverhill Bakery. We urge you, Hostess, as the new owners and management of this bakery, to respect our rights and voice, and work with us to address the issues that we have been raising with our allies and elected officials through Black Workers Matter, Communities United, and other members of the Coalition Against Segregation of Employees (CASE).
This is what we want:
1) No Racial Discrimination in Hiring, Assignments, Disciplines, Drug Testing, Termination, and other policies.
2) Complete Training and Supportive Supervision--in the Appropriate Language.
3) Advance Scheduling (minimum one-week notice & no last-second changes)
4) Optional--Not Mandatory--Overtime.
5) Respect for our Rights When Injured.
6) Respect for Our Rights to Organize and for the Authority of Our Union Stewards.
7) An EEOC-Run Diversity Training for ALL Managers and Supervisors.
We support all workers and believe respect for these principles at the Cloverhill bakery will make both our communities and Hostess stronger. Thank you!