{"id":3134,"date":"2025-07-30T12:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/?p=3134"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:41:31","slug":"workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>First-of-Its-Kind Class Action Targets Hormel for Alleged Earned Sick and Safe Time Violations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>July 30, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Austin, MN<\/strong> &#8211; Today, workers at Hormel Foods announced that they have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Hormel violated earned sick and safe time laws. The lawsuit alleges that Hormel failed and refused to provide Local 663 members with paid leave benefits required by the Minnesota Earned Sick and Safe Time law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UFCW Local 663 represents over 1600 essential meatpacking workers at Hormel who are a critical link in the world\u2019s food supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Class Action lawsuit alleges that Hormel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Made employees use contractual vacation benefits to receive pay during ESST absences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Willfully failed and refused to provide employees with the ESST benefit accruals to which they are entitled for their work between January 1, 2024 and March 1, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Refused to provide most employees with ESST benefits that they earned in 2024. Hormel then denied those employees their statutory right to carry over their accrued, unused ESST benefits into calendar year 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Failed to give all or most employees any of the ESST benefits that they earned in January and February 2025.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Dan Lenway, a UFCW 663 member who works at Hormel, said, \u201cESST matters because it gives us the time to care for ourselves or our families when we need it most. It means we don\u2019t have to risk our jobs or wages just to take care of our health or our families. Everyone deserves the right to rest and recover without fear. ESST is dignity at work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWorkers, advocates, and legislators fought hard to make Earned Sick and Safe Time law. Now, ESST is a statewide standard,\u201d said UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong. \u201cUFCW 663 members know what it means to fight for what we deserve and win. After all, workers at Hormel set the standard for wages in the meatpacking industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Quality Pork Processors can implement ESST correctly, and they are right next door, why can\u2019t Hormel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy was also among the speakers at the event and said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are more than three million working people in Minnesota, and earned sick and safe time upholds the rights and health of every single one of them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are rightfully proud of our state\u2019s role in the nation\u2019s food supply. The backbone of that industry is the hard-working people on our farms, in our grocery stores, and at our processing plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am proud to see that these thousands of UFCW workers are not giving up without a fight. I am rooting for them, and so is every person in this state who believes in hard work and access to healthcare. It was with the advocacy of workers and labor groups that we passed the law in 2023, and defended against attempts to weaken it this past session. With their support, we are ready to take that battle on again next year, and every year after that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lourismarshall.com\/\">Louris Marshall O&#8217;Brien, P.A.<\/a>, is the law firm representing the plaintiffs for the case.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>###<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1zerDPGYQaoVsvjz9q5R_p9Q0ecOZfXBs\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watch the Press Conference<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hormel-ESST-complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the Complaint<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\"><em>UFCW Local 663<\/em><\/a><em> represents more than 14,000 hard-working essential retail, meat packing and processing, food preparation and manufacturing, healthcare, and other workers in Minnesota. We strive to improve the lives of our members and of all working families by fighting for economic, political, and social justice in our workplaces and communities. UFCW Local 663 is part of the 1.3 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First-of-Its-Kind Class Action Targets Hormel for Alleged Earned Sick and Safe Time Violations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2025 Austin, MN &#8211; Today, workers at Hormel Foods announced that they have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Hormel violated earned sick and safe time laws. The lawsuit alleges that Hormel failed and refused to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59],"tags":[371,363,372,266,26,108,15],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First-of-Its-Kind Class Action Targets Hormel for Alleged Earned Sick and Safe Time Violations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2025 Austin, MN &#8211; Today, workers at Hormel Foods announced that they have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Hormel violated earned sick and safe time laws. The lawsuit alleges that Hormel failed and refused to &hellip; Continue reading Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UFCW 663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T17:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T17:41:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hormel-Class-Actionblog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"UFCW Local 663\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"UFCW Local 663\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\",\"name\":\"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T17:36:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T17:41:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66b7ca0eecf8ad3f8d807f7b61ec5b46\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"UFCW 663\",\"description\":\"A Voice For Working America\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66b7ca0eecf8ad3f8d807f7b61ec5b46\",\"name\":\"UFCW Local 663\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c04f16fc232710db4ef4933308588a4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c04f16fc232710db4ef4933308588a4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"UFCW Local 663\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/author\/local653\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663","og_description":"First-of-Its-Kind Class Action Targets Hormel for Alleged Earned Sick and Safe Time Violations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2025 Austin, MN &#8211; Today, workers at Hormel Foods announced that they have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Hormel violated earned sick and safe time laws. The lawsuit alleges that Hormel failed and refused to &hellip; Continue reading Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/","og_site_name":"UFCW 663","article_published_time":"2025-07-30T17:36:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-30T17:41:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hormel-Class-Actionblog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"UFCW Local 663","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"UFCW Local 663","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/","name":"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0 - UFCW 663","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-30T17:36:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T17:41:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66b7ca0eecf8ad3f8d807f7b61ec5b46"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/30\/workers-file-class-action-suit-against-hormel-foods\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Workers File Class Action suit against Hormel Foods\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/","name":"UFCW 663","description":"A Voice For Working America","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66b7ca0eecf8ad3f8d807f7b61ec5b46","name":"UFCW Local 663","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c04f16fc232710db4ef4933308588a4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c04f16fc232710db4ef4933308588a4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"UFCW Local 663"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.ufcw663.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/author\/local653\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3138,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3134\/revisions\/3138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufcw663.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}