Conagra will pay $142K in restitution to seasonal workers at Waseca frozen vegetable plant

Seasonal workers recruited to staff the Birds Eye frozen vegetable plant in Waseca were not given full information about the job before making the trek to pack corn and peas.

That’s illegal, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said, and plant owner Conagra will pay $142,000 in restitution and agree to two years of state oversight as a result.

“Under Minnesota law, workers must be told how much they will be paid, what work they will be doing and whether housing is provided before they agree to travel hundreds of miles to take a job in Minnesota,” Attorney General Ellison said in a news release Thursday. “I am pleased that Conagra Brands changed its practices.”

The Minnesota Migrant Labor Act requires employers provide detailed employment statements to agricultural workers traveling more than 100 miles to work in Minnesota in advance of the workers accepting a job.

Chicago-based Conagra, which also owns brands like Hunts, Hebrew National and Boomchickapop, “failed to provide seasonal workers with adequate employment statements at the time of recruitment,” the settlement said.

The omissions were “varying between statements,” according to the settlement. Employment statements in 2021 and 2022 did not include a combination of employment dates, wages, the employer’s address, minimum and expected hours, the type of work being performed and paycheck deductions.

The $142,000 settlement will be distributed to affected workers.

Birds Eye is the nation’s largest frozen vegetable brand and had $1.5 billion in revenue in 2022.

The company’s $250 million Waseca plant opened in 2022, replacing an existing factory in the southern Minnesota town that had processed the region’s harvests for 92 years.