Denver nonprofit fires five newly-unionized promotoras, citing funding concerns

DENVER — Less than two weeks after Re:Vision voluntarily recognized a dozen of its employees as part of the UFCW Local 7 labor union, the food equity nonprofit fired five unionized workers.

Promotoras, or community health workers, at the Westwood nonprofit successfully unionized Oct. 31 after requesting recognition from Re:Vision executive director Mariana del Hierro. 

Del Hierro called an urgent all-staff meeting Nov. 10 to explain the decision to fire workers. Del Hierro told the staff that the organization doesn’t have enough funding to support the youth programs the five promotoras worked on.

“Several key funders have decided to discontinue their support for programs that have historically been critical to our operations. Despite our efforts to identify alternative funding and adjust our internal resources, these changes have forced us to make difficult decisions to maintain our mission and ensure the long-term health of Re:Vision,” del Hierro said in Spanish in a letter to Re:Vision staff.

The letter also said the nonprofit will communicate its decision with the union and meet with them “to discuss in good faith the implications of this change.”

UFCW Local 7 said the timing of the terminations is concerning and that Re:Vision has agreed to share more information about its decision with the union.

The remaining promotoras want to see evidence of the lack of funding because they worry Re:Vision fired their coworkers in retaliation for unionizing.

“We're all a family together. We treat each other as a family. It's heartbreaking to see that some of the employees were just let go with not a reasonable reason,” said one current promotora, who spoke on the condition of anonymity over fear of retaliation.

Another current promotora said Re:Vision leadership spoke with employees about funding challenges prior to the union and, at the time, told them layoffs were not a concern. 

“It’s just very nerve-racking. This just makes it even harder to feel comfortable in the environment we’re [in] at work and to know that maybe some of us could be next,” she said.

The promotoras — all of them women and many of them immigrants — decided to unionize to address what they described as unfair treatment by del Hierro. 

The promotoras at Re:Vision provide health education and resources to their neighbors in Westwood, a predominately Latino and immigrant community. 

Del Hierro recently ran for the District 2 seat on the Denver school board. She lost to incumbent Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán in the Nov. 4 election.

This is a developing story and will be updated.