Catering workers with Flying Food Group have filed a Cal/OSHA complaint against the company, alleging management bolted doors and stepped up security at the Inglewood plant the same day employees were preparing to picket for higher wages.
The action was filed Feb. 6 on behalf of four of the 346 Flying Food employees who service airlines at LAX and are represented by Unite Here Local 11. They are calling on the state agency to conduct an onsite inspection to validate their claims.
They say the bolted doors and gate, which have since been reopened, posed a hazard to workers in the event of an emergency. Their labor contract expired Jan. 31 and the two sides are in negotiations for a new agreement.
In a statement issued Friday, Feb. 17, Flying Food said Los Angeles County fire officials did a full inspection of the building and found no safety violations.
Flying Food Group’s Inglewood facility employs 346 workers who service airlines at LAX and are represented by Unite Here Local 11. (Photo courtesy of Unite Here Local 11)According to the complaint, Unite Here said a picket of the facility at 901 W. Hillcrest Blvd. would be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Earlier that day, employees noticed the company had hired additional security guards. And the dispatch door, which serves as an exit for staff working in the receiving area, storeroom and kitchen areas, was being bolted shut, the complaint said.
“One of the first things I noticed was heightened security,” said Gary Duplessis, a cook at the facility and one of the complainants. “I’d never seen that amount of security until that morning. I mean, what did they think we were gonna’ do … storm the Capitol?”
Duplessis said he saw an employee drilling a hole through the dispatch door before he passed through it to take a break. When he returned, it was locked. A screw plate had been drilled into the door and wall, making it impossible for anyone to enter or exit, the complaint said.
That action,…
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