Amy’s Kitchen Workers Protested Their Working Conditions
Organic convenience foods brand Amy’s Kitchen maintains a carefully constructed image of ethical consumption and saving the planet, one vegan frozen burrito at a time. The company is owned by the Berliner family, and its website makes much out of being a small, family-owned business, with pictures of the founders joyfully making pot pies and surfing.
“We choose what’s best for our customers, our farmers, our employees and our planet,” the website reads. “It’s a tall order, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
But Amy’s has been under fire the past year as startling labor practices have come to light.
On July 18, the California-based manufacturer of organic convenience foods closed its new San Jose plant — less than a year and a half after it opened its doors; workers had been in the process of organizing with Unite Here Local 19, which represents food service and hospitality workers in the Silicon Valley.