David Tecuatl, a machine operator at Crushin' It Apparel, said the company has regularly paid employees late or written checks that were then rejected by workers’ banks. On some occasions, he said, he’d gone back for a new check only to receive another that was also faulty, and his own bank has threatened to close his account if such issues continued.
Seamstress Lilia Garcia is one of nine workers at Madison screen printing company Crushin' It Apparel who were laid off because they refused to remove their names from a joint letter listing their concerns and demands.
Business and local economy reporter
Business and local economy reporter
David Tecuatl, a machine operator at Crushin' It Apparel, said the company has regularly paid employees late or written checks that were then rejected by workers’ banks. On some occasions, he said, he’d gone back for a new check only to receive another that was also faulty, and his own bank has threatened to close his account if such issues continued.
Nearly all the sewing and printing workers at Madison screenprinting company Crushin’ It Apparel have been laid off after their boss called their demand for timely pay and better working conditions “extortion.”
The nine workers were laid off because they refused to remove their names from a joint letter listing their concerns and demands, which they presented to owner Jeremy Kruk on Friday. The dismissal prompted workers to picket Wednesday outside the south Madison shop at 5241 Voges Road, which creates custom printed and embroidered gear for schools, companies and sports teams.
Kruk, meanwhile, argues workers are suffering from “a massive mob mentality” and that most of the workers’ criticisms are unfounded.
“He got angry because we came to deliver the letter saying we’d like to talk or dialogue with him,” said David Tecuatl, a machine operator who’s printed logos on shirts for the company since April. “He doesn’t offer to talk with us or hear our complaints or listen to us.”
Tecuatl, a father of two, said the company has regularly paid employees late or written checks that were then rejected by workers’ banks. On some occasions, he said, he’d gone back for a new check only to receive another that was also faulty, and his own bank has threatened to close his account if such issues continued.
Another screenprinter, Pedro Hernandez, said that in the three months he’d worked for the company he too had received notifications from his bank that some of his paychecks could not be processed. He said he’d always managed to eventually get paid because he would regularly pester Crushin’ It office staff. “I tell them, ‘I need my money. I need my money,’ and they give it to me,” Hernandez said. “I pressure them.”
When Hernandez noticed on Friday that he had not yet received his biweekly pay in his bank account, he went to the office, where they wrote him a paper check instead. When other employees asked about their pay, he said, they were told they would receive it as direct deposit. Hernandez said he was picketing in support of those fellow workers, even though not working is costing him money.
As of Wednesday morning, Tecuatl was still waiting for the pay he expected to receive last Friday.
Of the various concerns listed in the letter, the pay challenges are the biggest, said Lilia Garcia, a seamstress who has sewn shirts for the company for a year and a half. Garcia’s youngest child recently started college, and her paycheck supports her family.
Kruk acknowledged the pay issues. He said the check problems were the result of the company exceeding its allowed number of transactions within a month, an issue he said had since been resolved. He did not recall when the last faulty checks were issued. In more recent pay periods, he said, delays were caused by a switch to direct deposit, a change he said workers requested. He said he was not aware that some employees had not yet received the pay that was due on Friday.
When Garcia and other workers arrived for work on Monday morning, they said Kruk told them to retract their names from the letter or go home.
Seamstress Lilia Garcia is one of nine workers at Madison screen printing company Crushin' It Apparel who were laid off because they refused to remove their names from a joint letter listing their concerns and demands.
“I asked him, ‘Are you firing us? Because we don’t want to stop working. We’re just asking for something fair.’ And he said, ‘If you don’t retract your names, you’re not welcome in the building,’” Garcia said.
Kruk believes employees have been “led astray” by Worker Justice Wisconsin, the Madison nonprofit that aided them in organizing and creating their letter. The organization’s director, Rebecca Meier-Rao, said her staff got involved in the effort when workers contacted their office looking for help addressing workplace concerns. Sometimes the organization helps workers lodge such grievances individually, but Meier-Rao said that, in the last year or so, the organization has been more often encouraging workers to seek a solution for their whole workplace.
“We know that to really make a dent in things, to really make structural changes and to ensure that the boss really listens, they have to go together in solidarity with each other,” Meier-Rao said.
Workers demand cooler conditions, safety equipment
In their letter, workers also called on the company to provide a cleaner and cooler working environment.
The facility, which the Cap Times toured, includes two large heat transfer machines which heat to 500 degrees. When those machines are running, Kruk said, the company does not turn on the air conditioning, operating only a series of freestanding fans instead. He said the machines are typically off three days each week. When the Cap Times visited, just one of the two machines was running, and the shop was notably hot.
Kruk said the family-owned shop compares favorably to those of local competitors, and he disputed claims that the facility’s bathrooms and break room were dirty. He said he previously spent $700 buying more fans when workers requested them, and that each worker has a fan at their station, and that he will provide any personal protective equipment — such as goggles and gloves — that employees request.
Hernandez, meanwhile, said some employees have purchased their own fans and that his coworkers have not received the safety equipment they’ve requested.
According to Kruk, the company’s funds are stretched thin — particularly following a fire just over a year ago that destroyed the company’s prior facility and all of its equipment — but that the company had consistently prioritized paying its workers. During the four months the company was closed after the fire, Kruk said, employees were fully paid even though they couldn’t work. That, he said, cost him $122,000 for which he wasn’t reimbursed by insurance. He said he’s also provided pay advances for workers and that he’s never denied such a request.
“Shame on me because that’s how people repay you,” said Kruk, who claims that he earns less than production employees at the shop and that he has not been drawing a salary in recent months. He called the letter “an astronomically malicious and terrible thing to do to a small business.”
All shop employees start at at least $15 per hour, Kruk said. Workers interviewed by the Cap Times earn $18 to $23 an hour. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage for a printing press operator was $19.77 in May 2021, while the average wage for a sewing professional was just over $17.
Workers asked in their letter for a $4 per hour raise, but they told the Cap Times they were willing to negotiate on that point, believing they might have asked for too much.
“We asked for $4, but we’re not demanding that. We can negotiate … but he still said, no, that we’re extorting him,” Tecuatl said.
“I'm not negotiating anything. That's off the table,” Kruk said. “If they want to talk about … the workplace conditions, I'm very open to talking. But no, I'm not negotiating anything with these employees. I mean, it's based on a letter that's littered with falsities, and you can't negotiate based on that.”
In the meantime, Kruk said he would “work tirelessly” to keep up production with fewer workers. “Things will get done because my kids, my wife, the employees who secretly crossed (the picket line) and myself will be working our butts off to get it done.”
Meanwhile, workers say Kruk’s hostility is among the concerns they’d like addressed. Multiple workers said he shouts at workers, a claim Kruk denies.
Workers plan to picket again on Thursday morning.
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Citing burnout and unsafe staffing levels, hundreds voted Wednesday for a three-day strike in September if bosses don’t agree to recognize their union.
Citing burnout and unsafe staffing levels, hundreds voted Wednesday for a three-day strike in September if bosses don’t agree to recognize their union.
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