Adorama Workers

Jose Gonzalez and Elio Villamar, XXX, say they were fired from Adorama's Elizabeth warehouse for speaking out about working conditions. Here, they pose for a photo with representatives of the Retail, Warehouse and Department Store Union, Local 262 President Tom Walsh, second from left, and Minister Danny Diaz of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, second from right. (Katie Lannan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

ELIZABETH — Employees at the Elizabethport warehouse for a New York-based camera retailer are rallying behind two coworkers who say they were fired for speaking out about working conditions.

The two who were fired, Elio Villamar and Jose Gonzalez, both city residents, have played a prominent role in the Adorama warehouse workers' attempt to unionize, which has been ongoing for about a month.

Villamar, speaking in Spanish, said that the effort was about the workers sticking up for themselves and fighting for better lives.

"We want to improve working conditions, and we're here to stand in solidarity with them and their families," he said.

Villamar and Gonzalez, with the backing of the Kenilworth-based local of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, claim warehouse employees must work 15-hour days and that there is only one bathroom for nearly 100 employees.

Minster Danny Diaz of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, center, speaks with representatives from Adorama outside the company's Elizabeth warehouse on Monday, Feb. 23. (Katie Lannan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Attempts to reach Adorama officials for comment through phone numbers published on the company's website and a listed spokeswoman have been unsuccessful.

Founded more than 30 years ago, Adorama sells camera equipment and other photography supplies online and from its flagship New York store, according to its website. The orders are processed through a warehouse in an Elizabeth industrial park.

The two workers were fired last week, after they had approached management and contacted the union with their concerns, said Tom Walsh, president of Local 262 of the RWDSU.

Walsh, with members of the union's organizing committee, visited the Slater Drive warehouse Monday to deliver a letter to management asking for Gonzalez and Villamar to be reinstated and repaid their lost wages.

Labor activists in Elizabeth earlier: "el pueblo unido jamás será vencido"/"the people united will never be defeated" pic.twitter.com/44D8JWs3AW — Katie Lannan (@katielannan) February 23, 2015

The union representatives were met by a company official and an attorney, who did not accept the letter and asked them to leave the property. They told the organizers that if they returned with a properly scheduled appointment, they would be able to have a discussion with management.

Walsh said that if the workers aren't brought back on, the union plans to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board over what its members consider retaliatory firings.

A second letter advocates attempted to deliver Monday, signed by National Latino Evangelical Coalition President Rev. Gabriel Salguero, asked Adorama's owners to "not only observe and respect the legal federal rights of your workers to unionize but follow the highest moral imperatives in helping them live to their fullest potential."

Warehouse employees wore red RWDSU t-shirts Monday in support of their coworkers, as the labor organizers outside the building chanted "the people united will never be defeated" in both English and Spanish.

"I feel very happy that I can contribute to this effort to improve the working conditions at this company, and I'm glad to be a part of a country that allows me to do it," Gonzalez said in Spanish.

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Katie Lannan may be reached at klannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katielannan. Find NJ.com on Facebook.