Lawsuit Claims Seasonal North Pacific Seafoods Workers Endure ‘Sub-Standard’ Living Conditions, Improper Wages

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A proposed class and collective action out of Washington alleges North Pacific Seafoods, Inc. “lures” seasonal workers to its Alaska seafood processing plants with “false and deceptive” promises of high wages and free housing.

Once in Alaska, however, the workers are deprived of proper pay and forced to live and work under “sub-standard” and even dangerous conditions, the wage and hour lawsuit alleges.

Further, out-of-state seasonal workers who depend on North Pacific Seafoods for their transportation home are left with “few options,” the complaint says. In all, the defendant eschews seasonal workers’ safety and wellness while depriving the individuals of proper pay, particularly for the time they spend putting on and taking off work-related gear, according to the case.

“NPSI shrugs off health and safety complaints. Those who stay face unfair wage theft, injury, and illness. Those willing to forfeit their jobs and quit risk being stranded in Alaska,” the suit charges.

North Pacific Seafoods, which operates seven processing plants in Alaska, employs as many as 800 seasonal workers each year to clean, fillet, package, freeze and can seafood brought in by the company’s contracted fleet, the suit explains. Prior to the start of each shift, workers are required to don certain job-related safety gear and protective equipment, including rubber aprons, rubber and cotton gloves, hair nets, ear plugs, and rain boots, the lawsuit relays.

“These items are necessary per NPSI’s own internal policy and due to the nature of the job,” per the complaint.

According to the case, workers are not permitted to clock in until after they’ve spent roughly 10 to 15 minutes donning their gear before being checked in one-by-one, a process that takes another 10 minutes. Similarly, workers are required to clock out upon leaving the processing room and before doffing their protective equipment, the suit says.

“By the end of a shift, the gear is soiled with blood and entrails,” the complaint says. “After clocking out, workers remove their rubber aprons and rubber gloves and place them in an area designated for cleaning. They remove and discard hair nets and ear plugs and wash their boots and cotton gloves. The process of removing the gear requires approximately ten to fifteen minutes more.”

Workers are not paid for the time they spend working off the clock and under company control before and after each shift, which adds up to roughly 30 to 50 minutes per day, the plaintiffs allege.

The case goes on to allege North Pacific Seafoods entices out-of-state seasonal workers to come to its Alaska facilities with “false and deceptive” advertisements regarding the plants’ safety, as well as “free” room and board, “free” equipment, and a “large paycheck.”

In truth, the dormitories provided for workers are not suitable for human occupancy, according to the suit. Workers have complained of rat infestations in the rooms and bathrooms and visible mold blooms and contaminated tap water. Per the complaint, bottled water is in short supply and some workers have become ill after drinking the “murky, foul smelling” tap water that “tastes of fish.”

The lawsuit goes on to describe what it calls “similarly poor” working conditions on the plant floor, alleging workers have not been provided with sufficient COVID-19 masks, were given boots that were “prone to slipping and fill with water,” and found that the rubber aprons they were required to wear were not cleaned and often “caked with entrails” from the previous shift.

According to the suit, workers assigned to filleting duties were never given promised metal-mesh gloves and suffered lacerations on their hands and arms as a result. Additionally, the lawsuit claims workers at one facility were exposed to an ammonia leak as a result of a non-functional ammonia detector.

The lawsuit says that although workers complained about “these and other unsanitary and dangerous conditions,” their supervisors ignored the grievances.

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