Labor & Employment Law

Stella D?oro Pulls a Wal-Mart, Shuts Down When Labor Board Rules for Workers

By Mike Hall

Just days after a federal administrative law judge (ALJ) found Stella D’oro Biscuit Co. guilty of several labor law violations and ordered the company to reinstate more than 130 workers who have been on strike since August, the cookie maker announced it was closing its Bronx, N.Y., plant.

Last year, members of Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) refused management demands for wage cuts by as much as $5 hour and slashes in health and pension benefits by the private equity firm that took over the company in 2006.

On June 30, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ALJ Steven Davis ruled Stella D’oro?now owned by Brynwood Partners?refused to bargain with the union, improperly declared an impasse in negotiations and illegally refused the workers’ May 6 offer to return to work. Davis ordered the company to reinstate the workers with back pay and interest.

The Local 50 members returned to work today. Yet the company not only is appealing the judge’s ruling, it announced yesterday it will close the factory’s doors in October. Union leaders are meeting today to determine their next actions.

After the judge’s decision last week, BCTGM Local 50 President Joyce Alston said:

This decision vindicates the struggles and sacrifices of our members at Stella D’oro. The private equity predators at Brynwood Partners thought they could refuse to bargain with us, deny us information, break the law, tear up our contract, force a strike and break the union. But our members’ solidarity has held with the help of the community and our many supporters around the country and world.

During the strike, the workers received tremendous support from New York-area unions and the community. The bakery workers were joined on the picket lines by nurses, staff at the City University of New York, textile workers and many others, with the New York State United Teachers union presenting the workers with $2,500 for their strike fund. The workers have taken their struggle to the luxurious offices of Brynwood Partners in Greenwich, Conn., and to the home of Brynwood Partners and Stella D’oro Chairman Hendrik Hartong III, son of Henk Hartong Jr., former Pittston Coal CEO and Brynwood founder.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on July 07, 2009 (boomark / email).