LIBERTY, NY — About 150 people from the community and beyond marched on May 18 in support of workers who were laid off two weeks ago from Ideal Snacks. All of the workers were reported to be undocumented immigrants, some of whom had worked for the company for 10 years.

Gonzalo Martinez de Vedia a human trafficking specialist with the Worker Justice Center of New York, based out of Kingston, said the workers were asking for three things. “They want a safe healthy work environment and an end to discrimination for the people who are still working there, and for the ones who were let go, they want a fair severance for the many years of service that they put in with the company.”

The protesters marched from LaPolt Park to Ideal Snacks. The marching route was overseen by police officers from Village of Liberty Police, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police. The marchers included Sullivan County Legislator Cora Edwards, Sandy Shaddock of Teamsters Local 447, other Teamsters members, church groups, human rights advocates and others.

Part of Route 52 was closed for the march. When the marchers arrived in front of the Ideal Snacks building, former employees began to talk about some of the abuses they claim they endured under management at Ideal Snacks, specifically singling out one supervisor.

A woman named Elizabeth said through an interpreter, “We are here today because for many years we have been under pressure and under threat, and we’ve been afraid to speak up, but now we want to talk about the abuses that took place, the discrimination.”

As Elizabeth was telling her story, the horns and alarms on three nearby vehicles began beeping and drowning out the speaker. A Teamster member said the vehicles belonged to a security detail hired by Ideal. The gathering moved a few yards up the road and the speeches continued.

The response from Ideal Snacks

Ideal Snacks issued the following statements after the march: “We respect freedom of speech and the right for people’s voices to be heard. As previously mentioned, we are also saddened by the loss of Ideal Snacks’ family members. That said, we must also be compliant with the law. After an audit was completed, we asked staff to verify their work authorization documents. All affected staff members were provided the opportunity to re-submit documentation; unfortunately, many did not reply. As a result, we had to terminate their employment.”

As to whether the audit of employee’s documentation was triggered by a third party, the statement said, “No third party forced the employment audit.”

Reporting has suggested that Kellogg’s is either a partner or large investor in the company, to which Ideal said, “We are a privately held company and do not discuss partnerships or potential partnerships.”

Will the company replace the estimated 200 that were laid off? The statement said, “Ideal Snacks did not experience any interruption to operations. Ideal Snacks is a strong employer in Sullivan County and plans on remaining that way, and is looking to hire qualified staff.”