ROCHELLE — Several Rochelle church leaders took part in a demonstration rally held Tuesday for subcontracted Hispanic workers at the Americold expansion construction site in Rochelle. The issues at hand stem from employee complaints that Southern Mechanic and Construction has not addressed job safety concerns, unfairly fired some workers and owe back pay.
 “We are trying to drum up awareness… we brought people from our church with their families trying to show these workers that we care,” said Pastor Rob Hamilton, Rochelle United Methodist Church. “Rochelle is a good place for hardworking people and we need to be treated fairly.”
Arise Chicago Worker Center, an interfaith justice group, issued a press release earlier in the week explaining that several workers held two different one-day strikes in an effort to bring attention to what they considered unsafe working conditions and alleged unpaid wages.
According to the Arise release, officials at SMC agreed to address the issues, but Hamilton said he believes the workers who complained and protested have since been fired. Arise also stated workers’ most recent paychecks have reportedly bounced, leaving their jobs and livelihoods in limbo.
“When we demanded what is fair, SMC tried to scare immigrant workers telling them Immigration and Customs Enforcement was going to raid the site instead of simply following the law,” stated Isai Ruiz, of Arise Chicago.

Americold is not directly involved in the dispute but a spokesman acknowledged the company knows about the protest.
“We were made aware there was a gathering across the street from one of our Rochelle facilities,” said Daniel Cooke, Americold Media Relations. “The action is not directed at Americold thus we can’t comment any further.”
In the interim, Hamilton has been directing the affected workers in Rochelle to the church. To date, nearly $4,000 in donations to the Salvation Army kettle has been used to help residents with fuel, food and housing.
“The Methodist Church gets donations from the Salvation Army… 80 percent of the money people donate stays in Rochelle,” Hamilton said. “We want to be able to support our neighbors. They are raising their kids here, going out to eat here. They are part of Rochelle too.”
Hamilton said he is blessed to be a part of a generous community and who are willing to help their neighbors through donations and by standing up for others in need.
“At the Rochelle United Methodist Church, we take the command to ‘love our neighbor’ seriously and it’s nice to know that loving our neighbors isn’t just part of our beliefs but it’s also part of Rochelle’s core values regardless of one’s faith affiliation,” he added.
Jay Baek with SMC was reached by phone but declined to comment on the matter.