Chicago’s El Milagro Tortilla workers gain improved pay, shorter hours after months of negotiations (via eaterchicago)
El Milagro claimed that it was simply trying to make up for a national tortilla shortage caused by supply chain issues, but the organizers say that the shortage was because of a lack of labor: many employees quit during the pandemic after COVID-19 infected 85 workers — leading toin April 2020 — and killed five. Arise claims the company had been unable to attract new hires, despite offering hourly wages that were, in some cases, higher than those it paid to longtime employees.
Workers say they are pleased by the wage increases, but they are disappointed that management still refuses to meet with them and that it has yet to fulfill the promise it made in October to close down both plants on Sundays. Furthermore, workers say that employees on the third shift are regularly sent home early and aren’t able to make up for the lost pay from hours lost.
El Milagro was founded in 1950 by Raul López, a Mexican immigrant and father of Jesús López, the current corporate secretary. A former workerthat Raúl López had been liked and respected by employees, but after he died in the 1990s and Jesús took over, the company culture changed. This may be symptomatic of tensions between Mexican American business owners and immigrant employees: in 2020, a worker at the popular Pilsen restaurant Cantón Regioof attacking him.
El Milagro remains one of the largest tortilla makers in Chicago, and its tortillas, chips, and taco shells are distributed nationwide. It employs more than 400 workers in Illinois and, in addition to the two plants in Pilsen and Little Village, it also has a third plant in San Marcos, Texas, as well as three taquerias in the Chicago area and two more in Austin, Texas, and Doraville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.Check your inbox for a welcome email.
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