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New Era Workers Vote to Strike; Students Step Up Protests
In a 221-69 vote May 2, New Era Cap Co. workers moved to authorize a strike at their Derby, N.Y,. plant.
“This is not a step we take lightly,” Local 14177 President Jane Howald said. “We have tried nearly every approach in bargaining, with no compromise by the company. New Era has spurned appeals by public officials to uphold its responsibility to the community and has ignored an independent report labeling it a ‘sweatshop employer.’ We’ll do whatever we must to make this company see the reasonableness of our position.”
The strike is subject to approval by the CWA Executive Board, with a strike date to be set by CWA President Morton Bahr.
New Era manufactures all official big league caps under a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball, as well as caps for Little League, football, basketball, hockey and golf. A huge share of New Era’s market is scholastic sports caps for colleges and high schools.
The local has been bargaining for several months to replace a contract that expired in December. Meanwhile the company has laid off 130 workers and moved much of its production to low-wage facilities in Alabama and offshore.
In March, students from five universities interviewed nearly 30 workers at New Era in Derby and tried to meet with managers. They were denied entry to both the Derby plant and a New Era factory in nearby Buffalo.
In an 18-page report, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) said Derby workers must work at a breakneck pace to meet stepped-up quotas, suffering crippling injuries while paying high premiums for health care. “Sweatshops do not just occur overseas and do not just concern the issue of wages,” they concluded.
After the report came out, CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, head of the union’s printing sector, met with New Era representatives, hoping to facilitate an offer the workers could accept.
The membership voted 248-10 to reject the resulting contract proposal, which moved only slightly on wages and ignored their major concerns.
While the workers have left the door open to further bargaining, USAS has moved forward in its plans to leverage support for the workers at 150 universities, including about 60 that purchase New Era caps and apparel for their athletic teams and sell New Era apparel to fans through collegiate outlets.
USAS has posted the report on its website at www.usasnet.org along with other news of the workers’ campaign, and has added sample letters for students to send to New Era owner Chris Koch and to university administrations; press materials for students’ use in mobilizing local media; and a sample resolution for university governing bodies to call for the rehiring of laid off New Era workers, to put on hold any further plans for layoffs and to return to the bargaining table in good faith.
The University of Michigan student government has already passed such a resolution, said Trina Tocco, USAS Midwest coordinator, with copies sent to the governing bodies of all major organized sports.
The USAS website, linked to university sites in all 50 states, also asks students to sign up for a listserve for continuing news of the campaign. The web address is usas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Tocco said in a letter broadcast on the listserve that USAS in other campaigns hasbeen effective in generating hundreds of letters to companies.
“We have actually shut down computers and offices in the past,” Tocco said. “This is the time of year when students are excited and really want to help.”
“This is not a step we take lightly,” Local 14177 President Jane Howald said. “We have tried nearly every approach in bargaining, with no compromise by the company. New Era has spurned appeals by public officials to uphold its responsibility to the community and has ignored an independent report labeling it a ‘sweatshop employer.’ We’ll do whatever we must to make this company see the reasonableness of our position.”
The strike is subject to approval by the CWA Executive Board, with a strike date to be set by CWA President Morton Bahr.
New Era manufactures all official big league caps under a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball, as well as caps for Little League, football, basketball, hockey and golf. A huge share of New Era’s market is scholastic sports caps for colleges and high schools.
The local has been bargaining for several months to replace a contract that expired in December. Meanwhile the company has laid off 130 workers and moved much of its production to low-wage facilities in Alabama and offshore.
In March, students from five universities interviewed nearly 30 workers at New Era in Derby and tried to meet with managers. They were denied entry to both the Derby plant and a New Era factory in nearby Buffalo.
In an 18-page report, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) said Derby workers must work at a breakneck pace to meet stepped-up quotas, suffering crippling injuries while paying high premiums for health care. “Sweatshops do not just occur overseas and do not just concern the issue of wages,” they concluded.
After the report came out, CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, head of the union’s printing sector, met with New Era representatives, hoping to facilitate an offer the workers could accept.
The membership voted 248-10 to reject the resulting contract proposal, which moved only slightly on wages and ignored their major concerns.
While the workers have left the door open to further bargaining, USAS has moved forward in its plans to leverage support for the workers at 150 universities, including about 60 that purchase New Era caps and apparel for their athletic teams and sell New Era apparel to fans through collegiate outlets.
USAS has posted the report on its website at www.usasnet.org along with other news of the workers’ campaign, and has added sample letters for students to send to New Era owner Chris Koch and to university administrations; press materials for students’ use in mobilizing local media; and a sample resolution for university governing bodies to call for the rehiring of laid off New Era workers, to put on hold any further plans for layoffs and to return to the bargaining table in good faith.
The University of Michigan student government has already passed such a resolution, said Trina Tocco, USAS Midwest coordinator, with copies sent to the governing bodies of all major organized sports.
The USAS website, linked to university sites in all 50 states, also asks students to sign up for a listserve for continuing news of the campaign. The web address is usas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Tocco said in a letter broadcast on the listserve that USAS in other campaigns hasbeen effective in generating hundreds of letters to companies.
“We have actually shut down computers and offices in the past,” Tocco said. “This is the time of year when students are excited and really want to help.”