New Bedford Workers Center Signs Groundbreaking Agreement with Temp Agency to Uplift Job Standards

Last week, temp workers who had long sought an end to unsafe conditions, improper wage payments, and overcrowded transportation, watched as a major southeastern Massachusetts temporary employer signed a groundbreaking pledge to institute sweeping improvements to their employment conditions. 

The agreement between EDA Staffing and the community group Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores (CCT) was signed at a ceremony at the community group’s New Bedford offices before workers and community supporters.

EDA signs the groundbreaking memorandum of understanding

“I have worked as a temp worker doing landscaping, housekeeping, fish packing, construction and paper packaging among many other jobs,” said Adrian Ventura, Director of CCT, which serves low wage workers.  “Too many of us have suffered exploitation – working in dangerous jobs and not being paid the wages they are due.  I feel very strongly that every company should pay us for what we have worked and to provide you with the necessary information when you are hired.”

Ventura applauded EDA for stepping up to be a responsible employer. 

“We also need to applaud the workers who stood up and said, ‘we want to be able to work for someone who appreciates our hard labor,’” said Isabel Lopez, an organizer for MassCOSH. “Because of them, we are celebrating the accomplishment of a business coming forward and promising to be a responsible employer.”

According to Rolondo Oliva of CCT, many of these improvements would be institutionalized across all temporary agencies if the legislature passes a bill that would reform the state’s employment agency laws. The REAL Act, or Reform Employment Agency Law, House Bill 1393, would fill a gaping hole in the state’s laws, ensuring that all temp agencies are regulated and requiring them to give blue collar temp workers a job order containing crucial information informing them of their job assignment, safety protection requirements, the name of their workers’ compensation provider, and more.  Oliva hopes this bill will allow workers to challenge pay discrepancies, apply for workers compensation if they are hurt on the job, and avoid questionable employers.

“We have been working on this legislation to ensure that all of the state’s temporary agencies respect the rights of workers,” he added.

Corinn Williams, executive director of New Bedford’s Community Economic Development Center, agreed.  “Too often workers have no idea where they are going to be working, what the shift is, what they will be paid or when - the REAL Bill would change that,” she said.

“It is gratifying to see immigrant workers who contribute so much to the New Bedford regional economy, being accorded a level of dignity and respect concerning a temp agency that wants to act justly," said Rev. Marc Fallon, a priest with New Bedford Catholic Social Services. "We expect that the legislature will act similarly with the REAL legislation.”

“Congratulations to the groups who have come together to champion working class families—the workers, CCT and the management of EDA,” said Tom Smith, executive director of Justice @ Work, which provided legal assistance to CCT and the workers. “I hope this is the start of on-going communication and collaboration to ensure that hard work is justly rewarded.”

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REAL Bill Supporters:  Mass AFL-CIO, Alliance to Develop Power (ADP), Boston Workers Alliance, Brazilian Immigrant Center, Brazilian Women’s Group, Coalition Against Poverty/Coalition for Social Justice (CAP/CSJ), Centro Presente, CEDC Southeastern Mass, Central Mass AFL-CIO, Centro Comunitario de los Trabajadores of New Bedford, Chelsea Collaborative, Chinese Progressive Association, Community Labor United, Construction Institute, EDA Staffing, Fall River Democratic Action Committee, Greater Boston Labor Council, Greater Boston Legal Services, Hampden Central Labor Council, Havurat Shalom, Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Jewish Labor Committee, Mass Global Action, Mass. Bar Association, Mass Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH), Mass Employment Lawyers Association (MELA), Mass Jobs with Justice, Merrimack Valley Labor Council, MetroWest Worker Center, MIRA, New England Regional Carpenters Council, New Sanctuary Movement, Painters & Allied Trades District Council 35, North Shore Labor Council, Pioneer Valley Labor Council, SEIU Local 615, South Coastal Legal Services, UAW MA State CAP Council, UFCW Local 1445, Unite/HERE Local 26, Western MassCOSH, and Workmen’s Circle.