Goya Foods Faces Federal Charges

The National Labor Relations Board filed for an injunction last week against Goya Foods, charging the company unfairly limited labor organizing efforts at its Miami distribution center.

The federal agency is seeking reinstatement of four workers fired last summer over their reports of rat droppings in a Goya warehouse and a rat's nest in a Goya carton at a supermarket.

Monica Russo, state director of the union Unite, called the injunction request "a scathing indictment of the outrageous conduct that Goya Foods has attempted to deny and cover up.''

The union won a representation election in 1998 but still has no contract for warehouse workers, drivers and salesmen. As part of its petition, the NLRB wants a federal judge to order Goya to resume good-faith bargaining.

The NLRB charged Goya has illegally barred employees from wearing union paraphernalia at work and threatened them "with underemployment if they support the union.''

Federal, state and Miami-Dade County lawmakers also have called for the reinstatement of the fired workers.

After their complaints, Florida temporarily shut down Goya's bean packaging operation because it found evidence of rodent droppings and unsanitary equipment. The state gave the warehouse its lowest overall rating of poor.

Edited by John Griffiths