Mother’s Market workers file wage theft claims for missed rest breaks
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Allegations of labor law violations are fueling tensions at Mother’s Market & Kitchen locations in Orange County and Signal Hill as workers fight to unionize.
Last month, the local grocery chain suspended 15 workers who participated in the union drive at its Costa Mesa flagship store and later fired them by way of FedEx letters.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, which the pro-union employees hope to join, filed an unfair labor practice charge against Mother’s Market alleging the company retaliated against the workers for union organizing and other protected activities.
Irvine officials are working on a law that would offer job protections to smaller grocery stores in the city in the event of a corporate takeover.
A Mother’s Market spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Catherine Swift, a cashier fired from her job at the Costa Mesa location, hopes to get her job back, especially as a single mother.
“We had meetings with corporate officials, and they told us why we were suspended, but when we asked where the accusations were coming from, they said they couldn’t tell us,” Swift said.
On the heels of the “Costa Mesa 15” firings, as the UFCW Local 324 dubbed the workers, more than two dozen employees from several locations recently filed wage theft complaints over alleged missed rest breaks.
Aldo Elizalde, a kitchen cook at Mother’s Market in Huntington Beach, hopes that the California Department of Industrial Relations conducts a thorough investigation of the complaints, including his own.
Elizalde said he typically arrives to work around 5 a.m. to prepare “grab and go” breakfast burritos for the store’s sit-down café. The rush of job responsibilities is relentless — and he fears facing disciplinary action if he falls behind schedule.
“The weekends are always stressful,” he said. “It’s ticket after ticket, nonstop. I don’t take 10-minute breaks because it’s just so busy.”
California law mandates that non-exempt employees take a 10-minute rest break after three and a half hours on the job. Workers are entitled to a second 10-minute break following six hours on the clock.
A half-hour unpaid meal break is required for non-exempt employees working more than a five-hour shift.
UFCW Local 324 claims that Mother’s Market workers missed mandatory rest breaks due to being too busy with work, fearing disciplinary action or a supervisor telling them not to.
Under law, employers who fail to provide required break times owe workers an extra hour of regular pay.
Elizalde’s complaint alleges the company owes him $4,300 for missed breaks.
Mother’s Market wage theft filings filed by current and former employees total $45,000.
Mother’s Market employees in Costa Mesa made a unionization effort public at all of its Orange County stores. Wages, scheduling and staffing at the organic health food outlet are key issues that have fueled the campaign.
Elizalde, who has seen his hours cut down this year, claims he mentioned the missed rest breaks to managers who responded by briefly ensuring them before returning to the status quo.
“They’re taking my time away and I’m working hard,” he said. “When I do take breaks and go back to my shift, it makes a big difference.”
Mother’s Market workers and supporters have gathered outside of its locations for educational “take a break” actions informing people of their labor rights.
On Friday morning, they picketed outside of the local chain’s corporate headquarters in Newport Beach over the controversial firings and wage theft complaints.
Swift is hoping to return to the checkout line as a cashier along with the 14 other terminated employees. She argued that the company letting workers go creates a further strain on staff that remain.
“I want to see us get reinstated and get our jobs back,” Swift said. “I want us to be adequately staffed and be able to take our lunches on time, our breaks on time, and not have to go late or worry about going past our five-hour period for lunches because we’re so understaffed.”
