A Chinese food-products distributor in Queens stung by employee protests over unpaid wages will pay the workers nearly half a million dollars, the workers announced Thursday.  Pur Pac Inc., which sells products such as rice, sugar, cooking oil, chop sticks and soy sauce, will pay 13 workers $470,000 to settle civil lawsuits brought by the workers in federal court and charges they filed with the National Labor Relations Board.  The company also agreed to a binding code of conduct that protects workers who engage in collective activity and compels compliance with workplace laws governing discrimination and health and safety, among others.  “No one who wakes up and goes to work every day should have their wages stolen,” said Primitivo Aguilar Flores, who drove a forklift for 14 years at Pur Pac before being fired in 2005. “I feel proud today that my co-workers and I stood up, got organized and won.”

The settlement came after workers persuaded key customers of Pur Pac—including the Cottage chain of Chinese restaurants, Tai Pan Bakery and QQ Bakery—to stop doing business with the company until the labor dispute was resolved. A company lawyer told workers the loss of customers dealt a “substantial blow” to the business.  The agreement is the largest to date reached by the Focus on the Food Chain campaign, a joint initiative of the nonprofit Brandworkers International and the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. The campaign won a $340,000 settlement last year from seafood distributor Wild Edibles.  Pur Pac withheld more than $1 million in pay from workers when it operated under two different names, E-Z Supply Corp. and Sunrise Plus Corp., a federal court ruled, and tried to evade liability through two sham sales of the company. As part of a previous agreement, Pur Pac acknowledged it was the successor to E-Z and Sunrise, and agreed to recognize the Industrial Workers of the World as the union representing the workers. (click on link to read full story)