After NLRB victory, bakery workers threatened with plant closing

The chant “La lucha continua!” (the struggle goes on) resonated on July 2 as an elevated train rumbled high above a large crowd of Stella D’Oro workers and their supporters. The workers, members of Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union, were returning to their jobs after a strike of nearly 11 months.

Marta Macia, one of Stella D'Oro strike leaders, on left. WW photo: Mike Eilenfeldt

Mostly immigrant women, the workers were not intimidated by the watchful eyes of Brynwood Partners security and city police as they prepared to enter the plant one by one. They had just won an important victory from the National Labor Relations Board, which ordered their reinstatement by the company and back pay.

But Brynwood Partners, a venture capital firm that bought the plant in 2006 and then demanded draconian cuts in pay and benefits, is appealing the NLRB decision and threatening to close the Bronx plant down entirely in 90 days. And so, “The struggle goes on.”

At a rally outside the plant, workers, union officials and supporters denounced Brynwood for trying to break their union in a drive for

superprofits.

Mike Filippou, shop steward and strike leader, expressed the militant mood of the multinational workers to this reporter, “We were prepared from the beginning, before we went out on strike. They have no respect for us.”

Stella D’Oro workers believed they had no choice but to strike. A $5-per-hour wage cut for “unskilled” workers, most of them women, plus huge slashes in benefits would grievously harm them and their union. So every single worker honored the picket line as support for their strike grew.

Workers earning $18 or less per hour would have been cut to $13. However, in an attempt to divide them, a few skilled workers earning up to $22 would get a raise. Every worker would lose vacation, holiday and sick pay coupled with health insurance and pension cuts.

Lupe Alvarado, with 31 years at Stella D’Oro, had seen the original Italian immigrant owners sell out to RJR Nabisco, which was then swallowed up by KKR in an historic leveraged buyout. Nabisco was then plucked by Kraft, which spun off Stella D’Oro to Brynwood while the union contract was outstanding. Lupe protested, “What are we going to do with $10 in our pockets? What do we do with no health insurance? We made Stella D’Oro. When Stella D’Oro started, they didn’t have what they have now. Now it’s a rich company.”

The elite law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges has contracts with Chrysler and General Electric. Gotshal lawyers represented General Motors in recent bankruptcy proceedings. This union-busting monster with 2,300 lawyers stood in for Brynwood Partners during the three-day National Labor Relations Board hearing. However, the judge found Brynwood guilty of unfair labor practices and ordered it to return the workers to their jobs with back pay and to negotiate under the previous contract.

Local 50 President Joyce Alston, who spoke passionately and eloquently at the NLRB hearing, told this reporter, “The strike has gone beyond Stella D’Oro. It has become a symbol for the entire labor movement. We have to stick together if we’re going to survive in this country. It’s time for working people who may not be in a union to realize that you have to stand together in order to maintain a decent standard of living. Other than that we’re all going to be at the poverty level. It’s going to be rich and poor and nothing in between.”

Alston promised her members just before they returned to work, “We do not intend for this to be the end. It’s just the beginning of a new stage. We intend to pursue every avenue available to us to stop this plant from being closed.”

At the end of the day, workers reported filthy conditions in the plant, especially in the restrooms. They were angered to find 26 video cameras surveying every corner of the factory—cameras that are monitored in Connecticut. The union will file a grievance, stating that such cameras violate their contract under the court order.

Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez of the Stella D’Oro Strike Support Committee, who carried a sign reading “Keep Stella D’Oro in the Bronx! Kick out Brynwood,” told the crowd: “We hope that we can galvanize the entire Bronx community behind the workers and Local 50 to keep this factory in the Bronx. Stop these predatory hedge funds and investment firms from destroying our community. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to save a factory.”

Edwin Molina, member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 and a leader in the Stella D’Oro Support Committee, told Workers World: “We played a major role in organizing community support for the workers and developed a far-reaching network of communication. We conducted rallies, marches and fundraisers. We instituted a successful boycott which ended when our workers got their jobs back. Members gained support from many local unions including Professional Staff Congress, New York State United Teachers, United Federation of Teachers, United Food & Commercial Workers, Transport Workers Union Local 100, AFSCME District Council 37, New York State Nurses Association and the Teachers Federation of Puerto Rico.

“Members of our committee and Stella D’Oro workers met with militant leaders from the United Electrical Workers of Chicago, who were on a national tour in January. They had successfully occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in December 2008 to keep it from closing.”