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NEW YORK—After an
heroic strike that lasted 11 months, bakery workers at the Stella D’Oro company in the Bronx face imminent plant closure
and the loss of 135 jobs. The shut-down has been ordered by the new
Stella D’Oro owners, the non-union Lance,
Inc. of North Carolina, makers of snack-sized junk
food. Lance, which will now own the Stella D’Oro
brand name, is moving production to its non-union plant in Ashland, Ohio.
At
press time, Stella D’Oro is expected to begin
layoffs around mid-October and to completely close by the end of the
month. The Bronx plant, a fixture for over 70 years in the
working-class neighborhood of Kingsbridge, is the sole producer of
Stella D’Oro cookies and breadsticks.
Over
the years, Stella D’Oro company is said to
have received millions in tax breaks from New York City to maintain its facility in
the Bronx. Stella D’Oro
is one of the last factories in the city and represents a loss of union
jobs when unemployment has reached over 10%.
On
June 30 the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Stella D’Oro, owned by Brynwood
Partners, had bargained in “bad faith” and ordered the company to take
workers back under the old contract and pay back wages. The Stella
workers, organized by Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco
Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) struck in August
2008 against company demands for a 25 percent cut in wages and making
health care unaffordable. Not one worker crossed the picket line during
the entire 11 months.
In
retaliation, Brynwood declared—the same day
the workers returned—that the plant would close in 90 days if the union
did not make big concessions or if a new owner were not found.
Brynwood is a hedge-fund outfit that seeks high returns for
its wealthy investors. In court testimony, the company stated that it
specialized in acquiring “iconic brand names” like Stella, “turning
them around” (read, attacking workers), and selling them off in five to
10 years. Local 50 attorney Louis Nikolaidis
told the New York Daily News, “Last
year, they told us up front, because we’re a hedge fund, our investors
expect a higher rate of return, and your members should expect a wage
cut.”
The
struggle of the Stella D’Oro workers has
become a symbol of the fight against union busting and capitalism at
its most brutal. Many BCTGM members have worked for Stella D’Oro for over 20 years. Most are women immigrants
from Latin
America, but also immigrants from Italy, Greece, and Ghana—as well as African
Americans.
At
a Sept. 23 press conference sponsored by the Stella D’Oro
Support Committee, plans were announced for a Sept. 25 demonstration at
the investment firm Goldman Sachs, the largest recipient of bailout
funds ($12.9 billion), and then a march to City Hall.
Mike
Filippou, a Stella strike leader, said,
“Goldman Sachs is one of the main investors in the Lance company. Lance
has no union and pays people very little. They [Goldman Sachs] are
taking the people’s tax money from the stimulus package and moving
operations to Ohio. It’s all in retaliation
for our strike.” Filippou was suspended in
mid-September in what he says is clear retaliation for his organizing
activities.
About
300 Stella workers and supporters joined the protest on Sept. 25, chanting,
“Keep Stella in the Bronx! Fight, fight, fight!” all the way to City
Hall. Prominent were many members of the Professional Staff Congress,
representing college and university teachers. However, the New York labor movement, bound hand
and foot to the Democratic Party, was absent once again, having done
scandalously little to mobilize in support of the Stella workers.
Every
worker in New York City and beyond, organized or
unorganized, needs to come to the defense of Local 50. Those in unions
must demand that the leadership take action and mobilize the ranks to
do whatever it takes to save jobs at Stella D’Oro.
Labor has the power to stop the Brynwood and
Lance criminals in their tracks. An injury to one is an injury to all!
In
related news, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, mentioned the struggle
at Stella D’Oro in his Sept. 25 address to
the United Nations. Chavez referred to a direct appeal by Stella D’Oro workers and supporters the day before at a
labor meeting featuring Chavez.
Chavez
told the UN, “One of them said to me, ‘Why don’t you buy the company?’
I said, ‘I’m going to look into it.’” Chavez continued, “We could turn
it into a socialist company if Obama
authorizes me. The company can be bought and handed over to the
workers.” For more information about the Stella D’Oro
struggle, go to stelladorostrike.com.
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