When I first met with the workers striking at the Frito-Lay Topeka, Kansas production facility, I was told that it was hard for them to even explain how bad the situation was for employees. They had gone without any real increase in pay, and the work shifts of over 80 hours per week were tearing them apart. Speaking to Mark McCarter, a union steward at Frito-Lay, I was informed that even someone with a long history at the company could not count on the company rewarding his years of service. With his wife passing away, he informed the company that he just couldn’t work the same 12-hour-a-day shifts. He was told to just file an FMLA. Seven years later, nothing has changed and he is still assigned the same hours.
In an editorial within the Topeka Capital-Journal, the agony of the workers at Frito-Lay reminds us of exactly how important unions are to the safety and protection of American workers.
• Making us work in dense smoke and fumes during and after a fire because as you stated, "It's just smoke."
• When a co-worker collapsed and died, you had us move the body and put in another co-worker to keep the line going.
The list of problems with Frito-Lay are jarring, terrifying, and reflect what can happen in a company hell-bent on profit and the belief that Wall Street matters far more than your home street or home town. I won’t list all of the article author and former Frito-Lay employee Cherie Renfro’s claims, but some are especially galling:
• During the COVID-19 lockdown, a co-worker's father passed away in another state. You told her since there wasn't a funeral she didn't qualify for bereavement time. She had to take off two of her own days to grieve.
Frito-Lay responded to this claim, but in responding to the worker, they noted that there were two, not one, deaths on the production line in Topeka in the last five years. The decision to also only address the last five years represents a cut-off, which means we don’t know what happened before those five years. This doesn’t sound like a great public relations strategy.
“In the event of an incident that necessitates medical attention, work ceases and the area is cleared for the safety of the individual requiring medical attention and the other employees at the site. While it’s unclear what incident the associate is referencing in the op-ed, we are aware of only two instances in the last five years in which an individual has experienced a medical emergency at the plant that unfortunately resulted in that individual passing away. In both cases, medical attention was initially provided at the plant and work ceased until the associates were safely on the way to the hospital.”
Here list is detailed in her editorial at the Capital Journal, and it is worth the read. Her claims, though, were generally backed by McCarter on video I captured in Topeka.
McCarter has called for a general boycot of Frito Lay products, and their parent company, Pepsi Co., until workers are provided a safe workspace and fair wages.
American workers deserve better. They also deserve our support. Sorry Frito and Pepsi. Solve this or your products aren’t entering my door.