Monday, January 10, 2011

SOS for Workers & Animals @ Ruby Ridge Dairy Farm

jJust wondering, if this place treats its workers so bad,....what must the animals be suffering? Hopefully, some Animal Angels will look into this place.

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The workers at Ruby Ridge Dairy need our help. We're talking 12 hour days, no lunch breaks, and a boss with a rifle who threatens pro-union employees.

The workers are demanding that Ruby Ridge's lender, Northwest Farm Credit Services, cut the dairy's funding until work conditions improve. They're going to the headquarters TOMORROW to deliver thousands of petition signatures.

10,669 activists have already added their names to the petition – help us reach 15,000 before tomorrow's event!

Sign the petition TODAY: Tell Northwest FCS to quit funding exploitation!
Thanks for all you do for workers' rights.
-Liz

THE PETITION: http://act.americanrightsatwork.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1143&track=20110110_advr_ruby

12 hour workdays. No lunch breaks. Armed threats and racial slurs from the boss.
Ruby Ridge Dairy employees want to form a union so they will be treated fairly, but they fear for their jobs and personal safety.

Now workers are asking the bank to step in and end the campaign of fear.
DEADLINE TUESDAY: Tell Northwest Farm Credit Services to cut off funding from this illegal operation!

He carries a rifle in his truck and threatens pro-union employees with it. He shouts abusive language and racial slurs at his workers. He refuses to grant lunch breaks. His employees drink from the same water barrels as his cows.1

His name is Dick Bengen, and at Ruby Ridge Dairy in Washington, workers say he imposes some of the most unspeakable working conditions we've ever encountered.

So we're helping bring attention to the injustice at Ruby Ridge. On Tuesday, workers will protest at the headquarters of Northwest Farm Credit Services, the lender that bankrolls Ruby Ridge, and will deliver a petition demanding that it stop funding the dairy. Can you add your name before it's delivered?

SIGN NOW: Northwest Farm Credit Services, stop funding Ruby Ridge until the illegal, inhumane conditions end!

Northwest Farm Credit Services claims to maintain "high standards of integrity" and practice "ethical decision making." But they're funding Ruby Ridge Farm to the tune of $13 million in loans.
2
Northwest FCS is a regional outfit. The company needs to know that it's not just a handful of disgruntled workers rallying at its headquarters tomorrow – it's up against thousands of outraged people like you across the country. Northwest FCS can't afford a national PR disaster. That's why we need your help. Together, we can urge them to avoid this controversy and use its leverage to make sure Ruby Ridge cleans up its act!
Sign our petition NOW!

Workers at Ruby Ridge have tried to fight for their rights and their dignity quietly, with a majority of them signing cards asking for union representation. But the workers allege that the owners illegally fired 10 men for trying to form a union and then, as an act of retribution, forced the remaining pro-union employees to work longer, more grueling shifts without extra pay.
And Dick Bengen uses outrageous threats of violence to thwart any potential efforts to form a union. "This rifle is for those people with the union," he told his employees.

Appeals to common sense and basic decency don't work with people like Dick Bengen, who shamelessly told the press that he is a "model" employer and that "this is the way employers should treat their employees."3 If we want results, we need to strike directly at Ruby Ridge's bottom line.

The protest at Northwest FCS headquarters is on January 11. We've got to stop this unacceptable abuse of workers, and we can't do it without your help.

Sign the petition insisting Northwest FCS quit bankrolling Ruby Ridge's campaign of fear and intimidation – we'll deliver your signature TUESDAY.

I've seen plenty of companies that treat their workers poorly, but Ruby Ridge has sunk to a new low. Please, speak out for these workers – they need your help, and they need it now.
Thanks so much for your support.
Sincerely,

Liz, Beth, Zoe and the entire American Rights at Work team
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/

1 http://action.ufw.org/page/speakout/rubyridge1110

2 http://action.ufw.org/page/s/gun

3 http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/mw-Union-sidebar-081409

1 comment:

  1. Can someone please explain to me why Ruby Ridge has not been reported to the DOL? 12 hour work days, no breaks for bathroom, water or lunch. This is a violation of human rights. Why isn't the DOL involved?

    ReplyDelete