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New Era Campaign Escalates; CWA Seeks Return to Bargaining
New Era workers and their student and union supporters announced significant victories and a major escalation of their campaign for a fair contract at the cap manufacturer’s Derby, N.Y., plant, exactly six months from the date Local 14177 went on strike.
Four major universities have stopped buying caps from New Era in response to student concerns regarding unsafe working conditions and attempts to cut the workers’ wages and benefits, and activists are working to persuade others to join the boycott.
In addition, with help from the international and the AFL-CIO, the strikers now plan to call on the New York Yankees and other major sports apparel customers to stop buying New Era caps. Strikers also plan to visit retailers and ask them to take New Era caps off their shelves until a settlement is reached.
New Era, a family-owned business, makes all the official caps used in Major League Baseball, as well as caps for professional hockey, basketball and golf. The company also supplies 39 colleges and universities, and many high school and youth teams.
“We look forward to a time when our union and management can work together to make New Era a successful company, but until this strike is settled, we will focus on convincing its customers to stop doing business with New Era,” said Jason Kozlowski, secretary of Local 14177.
Kozlowski, with student and labor leaders, held a press conference on the State University at Buffalo (SUNY) campus Jan. 16. After the event about 50 strikers and students marched to the administration building with a letter asking the school and its vendors to suspend purchases from New Era.
Amber Gallup, spokeswoman for United Students Against Sweatshops, said the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Wisconsin and Duke University have all suspended business with New Era and the list is likely to grow. UNC alone bought $450,000 worth of New Era caps last year.
“USAS has proven that we can get major universities to drop New Era as a supplier,” Gallup said. “In the coming months we expect to triple the number of universities that remove New Era caps from their shelves.”
Last winter, the national student group investigated working conditions at New Era and branded the company a “sweatshop employer.” Citing numerous health and safety violations at the Derby plant, USAS has mobilized students and organized letter-writing campaigns to college administrators on the strikers’ behalf.
Deena Fox, vice president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, pledged the support of labor throughout the state. She also announced plans by CWA and the AFL-CIO to reach out to some New Era’s largest customers, including the Yankees, the Fortune Brands Co., which markets golf products under the Titleist brand, and Foot Locker, a major sports apparel retail chain.
Local 14177, a formerly independent union that joined CWA in 1997, went on strike July 16, 2001, the day New Era began new production quotas, estimated by the union to cut wages for 70 percent of the workforce by $90 a week. The company earlier laid off more than 130 workers from the Derby plant as it transferred work to low-wage plants in Alabama and overseas.
Despite early defections from the union, the local has remained strong throughout the strike, holding numerous rallies and maintaining a picket line at the plant even during a recent six-foot snowfall. Workers from local unions throughout Western New York, students and community activists have turned out to show their support.
Following a lengthy lull in bargaining, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino has asked New York/New England Area Director Dave Palmer to attempt to bring the parties back to the bargaining table.
Palmer has met informally with New Era representatives and, with the local’s bargaining team, has formulated a counter-proposal to address management’s concerns while preserving decent wages, seniority and other benefits for workers.
Palmer praised the local for its steadfastness and said, “We’re at a point where I think everybody realizes this strike is not doing anybody any good.”
Four major universities have stopped buying caps from New Era in response to student concerns regarding unsafe working conditions and attempts to cut the workers’ wages and benefits, and activists are working to persuade others to join the boycott.
In addition, with help from the international and the AFL-CIO, the strikers now plan to call on the New York Yankees and other major sports apparel customers to stop buying New Era caps. Strikers also plan to visit retailers and ask them to take New Era caps off their shelves until a settlement is reached.
New Era, a family-owned business, makes all the official caps used in Major League Baseball, as well as caps for professional hockey, basketball and golf. The company also supplies 39 colleges and universities, and many high school and youth teams.
“We look forward to a time when our union and management can work together to make New Era a successful company, but until this strike is settled, we will focus on convincing its customers to stop doing business with New Era,” said Jason Kozlowski, secretary of Local 14177.
Kozlowski, with student and labor leaders, held a press conference on the State University at Buffalo (SUNY) campus Jan. 16. After the event about 50 strikers and students marched to the administration building with a letter asking the school and its vendors to suspend purchases from New Era.
Amber Gallup, spokeswoman for United Students Against Sweatshops, said the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Wisconsin and Duke University have all suspended business with New Era and the list is likely to grow. UNC alone bought $450,000 worth of New Era caps last year.
“USAS has proven that we can get major universities to drop New Era as a supplier,” Gallup said. “In the coming months we expect to triple the number of universities that remove New Era caps from their shelves.”
Last winter, the national student group investigated working conditions at New Era and branded the company a “sweatshop employer.” Citing numerous health and safety violations at the Derby plant, USAS has mobilized students and organized letter-writing campaigns to college administrators on the strikers’ behalf.
Deena Fox, vice president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, pledged the support of labor throughout the state. She also announced plans by CWA and the AFL-CIO to reach out to some New Era’s largest customers, including the Yankees, the Fortune Brands Co., which markets golf products under the Titleist brand, and Foot Locker, a major sports apparel retail chain.
Local 14177, a formerly independent union that joined CWA in 1997, went on strike July 16, 2001, the day New Era began new production quotas, estimated by the union to cut wages for 70 percent of the workforce by $90 a week. The company earlier laid off more than 130 workers from the Derby plant as it transferred work to low-wage plants in Alabama and overseas.
Despite early defections from the union, the local has remained strong throughout the strike, holding numerous rallies and maintaining a picket line at the plant even during a recent six-foot snowfall. Workers from local unions throughout Western New York, students and community activists have turned out to show their support.
Following a lengthy lull in bargaining, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino has asked New York/New England Area Director Dave Palmer to attempt to bring the parties back to the bargaining table.
Palmer has met informally with New Era representatives and, with the local’s bargaining team, has formulated a counter-proposal to address management’s concerns while preserving decent wages, seniority and other benefits for workers.
Palmer praised the local for its steadfastness and said, “We’re at a point where I think everybody realizes this strike is not doing anybody any good.”