Locals 203 and 267 have both made significant strides towards keeping their members safe from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Local 203, which represents grocery workers at City Market, came to a verbal understanding with their employer earlier this year that no employee information would be given to ICE. They were also guaranteed by their employer that ICE would not be allowed to enter private areas of the workplace and would not be permitted entrance without a warrant. At Local 267, which represents service and maintenance workers at the University of Vermont (UVM), members joined forces with other unions on campus in writing a letter of demands to their employer.
The unions at UVM had the university sign on to an agreement that ensures the university will not disclose worker information to ICE, guarantees that members are not required to interact or cooperate with ICE agents, allows workers to deny ICE entry to private spaces on campus, and states that if a worker were to be detained by ICE while performing their job, UVM would provide legal defense. Local 267 Financial Secretary Drew Harrington said, “We are trying to focus on what should happen if someone is approached by a federal agent about gaining access to buildings. Something we wanted to emphasize [to the university] and we did is that our local is very diverse. Our members speak different languages and English is often a second language. So we made a script that people can follow.”
Local 267 Financial Secretary Drew Harrington at the UE Eastern Region council meeting in April.
Harrington explained that a key focus for the local right now is disseminating this information to the members. He said, “This policy is only good if people know about it.” The local has been providing information to their members about their rights by passing out pamphlets and pushing UVM to provide all necessary information in Vietnamese and other languages in addition to English.
Local 203 pushed for assurances that City Market would not be looking into anyone’s immigration status. The employer also agreed to place “employee only” signs in different areas of the stores to keep members safe if ICE were to enter the workplace.
“The union is regularly plugged into the community and we are very aware of the dangers that ICE poses,” said Local 203 President John Donoghue. “There is an ICE facility in the area and because we are a border state, there is a lot more ICE activity than you’d expect.” In addition to the agreements the local made with their employer, the members have also passed out information cards so each worker knows their rights.
Local 267 members still want to do more to protect their members. Harrington said, “It is a liability to the university as much as it is to the union to allow ICE on campus. This is an opportunity to help the employer make necessary progress on an important issue. We are not going to give up. They agreed to some steps but there is still opportunity here to get things done. It is not over and I am getting used to the idea that it is slow and it will happen in tiny pieces but we are not giving up.”
Donoghue said, “I think ensuring the safety of our workers is what the union is all about.”