Buffalo News (New York), February 20, 2008, Wednesday
Copyright 2008 The Buffalo News
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Buffalo News (New York)
February 20, 2008, Wednesday
CENTRAL EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE; Pg. A6
BODY:
Welcome news: New Era Cap Co. has ended a curious and volatile period of contract negotiations with a settlement that puts the Buffalo-based company, the Teamsters union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the same page.
Currently in place is a tentative three-year labor agreement between the cap maker and newly organized workers at the company's Mobile, Ala., distribution center, which has 95 employees. The dispute brought together strange bedfellows, as the Communications Workers of America stood alongside the company being accused by the advocacy organization and another union of racism and unfair practices.
What came out of the wash is a toehold for the Teamsters, a collective-bargaining agreement that includes increased hourly wages and better health coverage for workers, while New Era gets to implement at its warehouse efficiency strategies that are currently in place at its other locations. There's also an improved diversity policy to address allegations of racism and unfair labor practices outlined in a report released last month by the NAACP.
Adding to the good news for some workers in Mobile is agreement that 17 of 20 employees allegedly terminated for union organizing will be offered new employment and the cases of the remaining three will be decided by the National Labor Relations Board.
The arrival of the Teamsters union in Southern manufacturing states and the image of the NAACP's Julian Bond leading protests contrasted sharply with the positive image the company has developed in this community. That its local image is backed by substance was demonstrated by the support New Era received from the CWA, which represents workers at the company's Derby facility and had faced off against management a few years ago during an earlier labor disagreement.
The Teamsters and NAACP action threatened not just this company but the community, because of the leading role New Era has taken in helping promote business growth here, especially with its new downtown headquarters.
Protesters threatened to disrupt the company's lucrative relationship with Major League Baseball, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison pulled New Era's license following pressure from the Worker Rights Consortium and United Students Against Sweatshops, both organizations that advocate for better working conditions in factories.
Trying to organize unions in a right-to-work state, most of which are in the South, is extremely difficult, according to Arthur C. Wheaton, an industry education specialist at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo. Translating the labor situation in the North to the South is difficult as work moves from the traditional "Rust Belt" to the right-to-work states with lower pay, benefits and working conditions.
Much of the problem for New Era Cap in Alabama involved workers who wanted the benefits negotiated in Derby. Whether that conflict escalated because of discrepancies by managers in Mobile or because of an orchestrated attempt at building union strength in the South by picking a small but high-profile target, it's good to see the dispute settled in a way that protects jobs and the reputation of an important local company.
LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2008
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