RWDSU Member Speaks Out for Workers Left Behind at DC Roundtable

When immigrant workers are removed from their jobs, it’s not just them and their families who suffer, it's the workers left behind who are forced to pick up the pieces. RWDSU member Tom Torres from Kraft-Heinz in Holland, Michigan brought this reality to Washington, D.C. in July, speaking alongside union leaders and workers from across industries in the AFL-CIO about how shrinking workforces are straining employees with excessive shifts and overtime, threatening worker safety, and shrinking communities.

“I look around and see empty posts that were once filled with some of the best operators – 20+ year members, working without them puts more and more pressure on us every day. It adds overtime shifts and decreases our weekends – and it’s not sustainable,” said Torres. 

Torres also made it clear that these losses don’t create more opportunities for other workers. Instead, they leave behind overwhelming workloads and unstable conditions. Workers left behind have to scramble for childcare options, ways to manage their own households or to care for elderly parents and other responsibilities when they have to take mandatory extra shifts and overtime.

From food processing and retail to construction, hospitality, and care work, the story is the same: when teams are gutted, everyone’s quality of life, work-life balance, and job security take a hit. Torres’ words were a powerful reminder that solidarity among all workers is the only way forward. RWDSU is proud that Tom Torres represented our members in D.C., lifting up the experiences of those left behind and fighting for the stability and fairness all workers deserve.