In Support of Hudson Workers
Victoria Claire Chen, Winston Shay+
Workers employed by Victoria Claire Chen and Winston LB Shay are organizing for better conditions, better pay and respect on the job. The workers filed their initial petition for recognition with the NLRB in July of 2021. Instead of sitting down and working with the workers to address their concerns, management has restricted communications at work, effectively making it impossible for workers to communicate; threatened loss of pay for engaging in collective action; targeted and terminated union leaders, many of whom testified before the NLRB during their unit hearing; made unilateral changes to make working conditions more onerous; and have delayed the election by having the ballots impounded by the NLRB.
Numerous Unfair Labor Practices have been filed against the employers for their unlawful conduct, but we know that justice cannot be won through the courts. We urge organizations to examine the facts and let other know what is going on at Hudson/HIPR. You can begin by signing this open letter and sharing what you have learned about the labor dispute at Victoria and Winston's companies.
Sponsored by
To:
Victoria Claire Chen, Winston Shay+
From:
[Your Name]
To: Victoria Claire Chen and Winston LB Shay
It has come to our attention that workers at your companies have been organizing for better conditions, higher pay, and respect on the job since early 2020. Furthermore, we have been made aware that these workers filed an initial petition for union recognition with the National Labor Relations Board in July 2021.
According to the employees we have spoken to, you have chosen to repeatedly violate your workers’ collective right to organize rather than engage them in the bargaining process. The workers we have spoken to have made us aware of numerous potentially illegal actions that you have taken to interfere with their rights including but not limited to:
· Terminating up to 10% of the workforce at your companies in retaliation for their participation in protected activities, thus putting them at risk of homelessness and poverty and forcing them onto welfare.
· Unilaterally changing working conditions with the apparent intention of making work more onerous and miserable.
· Restricting workers’ abilities to communicate with one another, hindering both their ability to organize and to talk to their supervisors and other relevant individuals about practical considerations regarding their day-to-day work.
· Outsourcing and offshoring American jobs to contingent workers and foreign nationals in Canada, Taiwan, and possibly elsewhere.
· Intimidating workers with armed guards.
· Apparently closing companies to avoid unionization at those companies.
· Threatening workers with legal action for speaking out about their working conditions and preserving evidence for government investigations.
We have further been informed that you have delayed recognition of the union at every step of the process by filing spurious labor board charges against employees and ensuring that election ballots were impounded to prevent them from being counted.
Finally, we have been made aware that you and your companies are under investigation by the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for charges including wage theft, misclassification of workers, disability discrimination, and ethnic/religious discrimination.
Given the above, we harbor serious concerns about how you treat workers at all of the companies you own – both those that are organizing and those that are not – including North America Immigration Law Group (NAmILG); WeGreened; Chen Immigration; Chen Immigration Associates; Hudson Legal; Hudson, a Professional Corporation; HIPR Pacsoft; Pacston; Pacston Canada; Talentopia; Visa2US; mStarLex; and Impactio.
Moreover, we question your ethics as an immigration law firm. If you are willing to treat your workers this dishonorably, how do you treat your clients? Immigrants are some of the most vulnerable people in the US and we believe they deserve to retain lawyers with integrity and who treat them with respect. Until we can be assured that workers and clients at your companies are treated properly, we cannot in good conscience recommend your firm to potential clients.
Please know that, as concerned members of the public, we will take every step necessary to warn those who seek immigration visas about your various companies’ business practices. As we do so, we continue to urge you to do the right thing, namely to recognize the union and negotiate a contract that works for all relevant parties.