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Key Demands Met, New Era Workers End Year-Long Strike
After nearly a year on strike, CWA members at the New Era Cap Co. of Derby, N.Y. ratified an agreement that met their key demands for setting a fair pay scale with union input and for safety and health improvements in the plant, along with other gains.
“We’re elated,” Local 14177 President Jane Howald said. “Our members are returning to work and we look forward to building a strong working relationship with the company.”
The first of about 200 workers who walked out July 16, 2001, over imposed production quotas and wage cuts began returning to the plant July 8 to raises of 4 percent in their base pay. All the strikers are to be recalled as the company brings more work into the plant to justify full staffing. The contract covers about 330 workers.
“Local 14177 can be very proud of this contract and for sticking together so long in the face of a tough and unyielding employer,” said Bill Boarman, CWA vice president for the Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector.
District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino praised the members for their persistence and sustained mobilization efforts and cited the work of New York/New England Director Dave Palmer who headed negotiations.
The strikers held frequent rallies at the Derby plant, maintained a picket line through an especially harsh winter, leafleted sporting goods stores and conducted letter-writing campaigns in support of their cause.
“We have so many people to thank — community people, church groups, other unions, and students who brought our fight to college campuses across the nation,” Boarman said.
He noted that businesses in the Derby community donated food and supplies to the strikers while unions from throughout upstate New York sent supporters to rallies and the picket line. The Worker Rights Consortium called upon colleges and universities to drop New Era as a supplier of hats to their athletic teams because it operated an unsafe plant.
United Students Against Sweatshops published a study branding New Era a “sweatshop employer” and its campus coordinators launched demonstrations to influence school administrators. A dozen universities and at least one high school suspended contracts with New Era.
Also, the AFL-CIO launched a national boycott of New Era products and its Strategic Approaches Committee and Jobs with Justice contributed logistical support. Numerous public officials pressured the company on the workers’ behalf.
The turning point, said CWA President Morton Bahr, may have come after Senate Judiciary Committee members Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) wrote to Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig to inform him of anti-union activities at New Era, which supplies caps to major and minor
league teams.
The senators pointed to National Labor Relations Board findings that New Era had threatened to close the plant prior to the workers’ vote to join CWA in 1997. Further, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had cited the company for numerous violations including failure to protect the workers from musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to blood-borne pathogens.
The letter urged Selig to “hold New Era to the highest standards, in keeping with the best traditions of our national pastime.” Almost immediately, New Era began bargaining to end the strike.
Under terms of the agreement, Palmer said, the company would declare all current positions vacant, expand from two to three shifts and rehire Local 14177 members before considering temporaries reapplying for work.
All workers are returning at significantly improved average pre-strike base wages for the first four weeks, while A-Team and repair positions are being paid 130 percent of the base rate. Over the four-week period, an independent firm will conduct time studies, with CWA input, to develop reasonable engineered standards. Hourly workers will receive raises of 13 cents upon ratification and on each anniversary of the contract.
“People can be assured that when they walk out of the plant after a decent day’s work, they are going to get a decent day’s pay,” Palmer said.
Among other significant improvements, New Era will develop a safety and health committee with CWA membership at every level. Company payment toward health insurance has been raised above levels New Era imposed last year, and there are improvements in both the amount and flexibility to use paid time off days.
“We’re elated,” Local 14177 President Jane Howald said. “Our members are returning to work and we look forward to building a strong working relationship with the company.”
The first of about 200 workers who walked out July 16, 2001, over imposed production quotas and wage cuts began returning to the plant July 8 to raises of 4 percent in their base pay. All the strikers are to be recalled as the company brings more work into the plant to justify full staffing. The contract covers about 330 workers.
“Local 14177 can be very proud of this contract and for sticking together so long in the face of a tough and unyielding employer,” said Bill Boarman, CWA vice president for the Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector.
District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino praised the members for their persistence and sustained mobilization efforts and cited the work of New York/New England Director Dave Palmer who headed negotiations.
The strikers held frequent rallies at the Derby plant, maintained a picket line through an especially harsh winter, leafleted sporting goods stores and conducted letter-writing campaigns in support of their cause.
“We have so many people to thank — community people, church groups, other unions, and students who brought our fight to college campuses across the nation,” Boarman said.
He noted that businesses in the Derby community donated food and supplies to the strikers while unions from throughout upstate New York sent supporters to rallies and the picket line. The Worker Rights Consortium called upon colleges and universities to drop New Era as a supplier of hats to their athletic teams because it operated an unsafe plant.
United Students Against Sweatshops published a study branding New Era a “sweatshop employer” and its campus coordinators launched demonstrations to influence school administrators. A dozen universities and at least one high school suspended contracts with New Era.
Also, the AFL-CIO launched a national boycott of New Era products and its Strategic Approaches Committee and Jobs with Justice contributed logistical support. Numerous public officials pressured the company on the workers’ behalf.
The turning point, said CWA President Morton Bahr, may have come after Senate Judiciary Committee members Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) wrote to Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig to inform him of anti-union activities at New Era, which supplies caps to major and minor
league teams.
The senators pointed to National Labor Relations Board findings that New Era had threatened to close the plant prior to the workers’ vote to join CWA in 1997. Further, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had cited the company for numerous violations including failure to protect the workers from musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to blood-borne pathogens.
The letter urged Selig to “hold New Era to the highest standards, in keeping with the best traditions of our national pastime.” Almost immediately, New Era began bargaining to end the strike.
Under terms of the agreement, Palmer said, the company would declare all current positions vacant, expand from two to three shifts and rehire Local 14177 members before considering temporaries reapplying for work.
All workers are returning at significantly improved average pre-strike base wages for the first four weeks, while A-Team and repair positions are being paid 130 percent of the base rate. Over the four-week period, an independent firm will conduct time studies, with CWA input, to develop reasonable engineered standards. Hourly workers will receive raises of 13 cents upon ratification and on each anniversary of the contract.
“People can be assured that when they walk out of the plant after a decent day’s work, they are going to get a decent day’s pay,” Palmer said.
Among other significant improvements, New Era will develop a safety and health committee with CWA membership at every level. Company payment toward health insurance has been raised above levels New Era imposed last year, and there are improvements in both the amount and flexibility to use paid time off days.