Forming a union just got much harder for the 900 mostly immigrant warehouse workers employed by Fresh Direct, an online grocery delivery company based in Long Island City, New York. On December 9 and 10 the company sent letters to all its employees, alerting them that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be inspecting their employment documentation.

This announcement sent shockwaves through the company’s warehouse in Queens, and dozens of workers who had no paperwork on file and could not produce it were immediately suspended or quit. As many as 100 have left the company since the ICE audit was announced, often with nothing more than a garbage bag of belongings in tow.

“Everyone was crying. It was like they lost a relative or close friend,” remarked Ezra Ballantyne, a worker in the dry goods section of the Fresh Direct warehouse. “You’re talking about people who had been there five or seven years.”

SHADOW OVER ELECTION

The ICE inspection comes just two weeks before a union representation election, scheduled for December 22 and 23, during which workers will choose whether to be represented by Teamsters Local 805 or by United Food and Commercial Worker Locals 342 and 348-S. Local 348-S already represents drivers and delivery helpers at Fresh Direct.

For Teamsters Local 805 President Sandy Pope, the timing of the ICE inspection is no coincidence. “We have lots of support among immigrant workers, and the employer knows that.

For Pope this incident highlights the importance of long-term labor-community connections. “Labor needs to be better prepared,” she said. “We need to have better connections to community organizations and local clergy so that we can respond more comprehensively, so that we can fight together.”

About 150 Teamsters from the New York area held a demonstration at Fresh Direct on December 11 to protest the company’s union-busting tactics. Pope anticipates more scrutiny and harassment to come but vows to press on with the campaign.

According to news reports, ICE has stepped up its enforcement efforts, hiring 41 new “forensic auditors” to scrutinize employment verification forms. Companies are required to maintain such forms, known as I-9s, for every employee they hire.