New Video Examines How Amy’s Kitchen Impacted the Lives of More Than 300 of Its Workers

San Luis Obispo, CA (July 18, 2023) — One year after the layoffs of more than 300 employees at the Amy’s Kitchen factory in San José, California, Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.), a vegan food justice organization, has released a video on the lives that the company impacted.

This powerful 10-minute video (https://youtu.be/Ws0hTWMS7ME) takes a closer look at the lives of the displaced workers at Amy’s Kitchen in San José. The workers themselves talk about the injustices they faced, including preventing them from taking bathroom breaks, retaliation for standing up for one another, and eventual closing of the production facility.

“We have all seen the headlines about layoffs, but it is important we remember those whose lives are forever changed,” said lauren Ornelas, founder and senior programs director of F.E.P. “For a company that claims it runs on ‘taking care of each other,’ they showed nothing but disregard for the workers who were laid off on July 18, 2022, after being told the facility was being repaired.”

“These workers were already facing so many injustices and were taking steps to protect themselves and one another,” said Tho Do, organizing director, UniteHere-Local 19, “the panicked calls I received from these workers with fear in their voices stays with me to this day. These workers deserved better from Amy’s Kitchen.”

In February 2022, F.E.P. and impacted workers called for a boycott of Amy's Kitchen products. This call to action led to multiple food co-ops pulling Amy’s products, including Mandela Grocery in Oakland People’s Food Co-op in and Alberta Street Co-op in Portland.

F.E.P. is grateful for all of the assistance Unite Here! Local 19 provided the workers at Amy’s Kitchen in San José as well as conducting these interviews and being there for the workers during this painful time.

About Food Empowerment Project
Food Empowerment Project (http://www.foodispower.org), founded in 2007, seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices. In all of its work, Food Empowerment Project seeks specifically to empower those with the fewest resources. Its advocacy areas include fair conditions for farm workers; the availability of healthy foods in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities; and the protection of animals. A vegan food justice organization, Food Empowerment Project also works to expose negligent corporations, such as those that push unhealthy foods into low-income areas, those that perpetuate food deserts (or food apartheid areas), and those that sell chocolate derived from the worst forms of child labor. Food Empowerment Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

About UniteHere - Local 19
Local 19 represents over 5,500 workers in Silicon Valley, Yosemite, Coarsegold, Fresno, Visalia and San Luis Obispo. Our Union's organizing program, research department, grassroots political organizing, training of the rank and file and worker activism have made us a dynamic force in the American Labor Movement. Our members have fought hard to win and improve the standards of living for all workers.