I live in a Bronx neighborhood that is known for cookies. For my entire life I've been enjoying the sweet smell of Union Made Stella D'Oro cookies and biscuits. After the long cold winter that Brynwood Partners forced on the workers, those cookies don't smell so sweet anymore.
The owners are seeking to slash wages by as much as 25%, do away with Saturday overtime and impose a new, crushing, 20% employee contribution to worker health care benefits. They also are insisting on eliminating four holidays, one week of vacation, and all 12 paid sick days.
Yesterday there was a Solidarity rally in support of the workers who have been locked out of their jobs for the past ten months!
This was not the first rally to be ignored by the media but the turnout and the continuing community support has been very impressive.
There was no sign of The New York Times, Daily News or The New York Post at yesterday's show of support and I can't find anything in today's papers. But while information about these locked out workers has become hard to come by and there were no politicians to be found, there was a strong showing of community activist, members of other unions and single payer healthcare supporters.
I'm not very good with head counts so you decide. Here is the view of the meeting place on West 225 Street facing east.
A view of the people's pen from across the street.
And the barricade about 800' down the street facing west with the Broadway Bridge in the background.
I'd say that yesterday had to be at least a thousand people from all walks of life to support these workers in their struggle with a private equity firm that has already gotten rid of the union drivers that once delivered their product. The B.C.T.G.M Local #50 needs all the help they can get.
It was very good to see so many supporting their fellow Americans suffering through a story described in the the AFL-CIO Now blog as Broken Dreams and Cookie Crumbs.
Vicky has 28 years on the job baking those cookies. She began work at Stella D’oro at age 20. Now she has no paycheck coming in nor any health benefits. Vicky and her co-workers walk the strike lines at West 237th and Broadway every day, defying corporate chieftains who, after the union contract expired July 31, 2008, demanded reduced wages, four fewer paid holidays and workers shell out an additional $1.32 per hour for health insurance.
Imagine the equity guys having to sweat over $1.32 an hour. If only.
Every day is another hardship for the workers on the picket line. A month into the strike, they already were talking among themselves about their fading American Dream. This from the Riverdale Press:
On Sept. 11, nearly a month since the 24-hour picket outside of the Kingsbridge factory began, striking workers sat on lawn chairs underneath their usual blue tarp and an American flag.
It was a day fraught with symbolism, as workers struggled to make sense of the stark contrast between the patriotism they felt on the anniversary of that tragic day and the American dream they say is slipping away from them.
The bakery workers have been joined on the picket lines by nurses, staff at the City University of New York, textile workers and many others, with New York State Teachers Union recently 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.
Waiting for the march up Broadway to the Stella D'oro factory there was speeches from the workers and union representatives.
Chants "The workers unite will never be defeated!"
And a little inspirational music as an old folk song was customized for Stella D'oro.
PUT IT ON THE GROUND
Oh! If you want a raise in pay, all you have to do
Go and ask Brynwood for it and they will give it to you
They will give it to you, my friends, they will give it to you
A raise in pay, without delay, oh, they will give it to you!
Ohhh, put it on the ground, spread it all around
Dig it with a hoe: it will make your flowers grow
The men who run the bakery, they own no bonds or stocks
They have no fancy limousines, no gems the size of rocks
They have no estates with swimming pools, nor silken B.V.D's
Because they pay Stella workers such fancy salaries.
Ohhh, put it on the ground, spread it all around
Dig it with a hoe: it will make your flowers grow
It's fun to work on holidays, and when the day is done
Why not take a cut in pay for having so much fun?
For having so much fun my friends, for having so much fun
Pay more for our time? It would be a crime, for having so much fun.
Ohhh, put it on the ground, spread it all around
Dig it with a hoe: it will make your flowers grow
For the men who own Stella D'Oro I shed a bitter tear
They haven't made a single dime in over thirty years
In over thirty years my friends, in oh so many years
Not one thin dime? In all that time? In over thirty years!
Ohhh, put it on the ground, spread it all around
Dig it with a hoe: it will make your flowers grow
Having been on that side of a management locked door a few time in my thirty-one years as a union man, I can tell you that such a show of support is a much needed feel good day during a long a difficult struggle. "No contract, No cookies" is the chant but they owners have brought in union busting workers and the cookies are being made while these men have been outside the factory seeking justice.
They are still out of work and struggling to feed their families on little to no income but after yesterday these proud workers are confident that they are not alone.
The large crowd of supporters walked from the meeting point for five blocks to the factory led by this banner.
The solidarity parade really did stretch back further than the eye could see.
As we turned the bend at 225th and Broadway, making noise and being seen, we were greeted by car horns honking in support, pedestrians raising their fist and most memorable was when the subways passed overhead also honking for the length of the march.
The spirits were very high and the workers seem more determined to receive the justice they deserve than ever.
The well behaved crowd and easy going members of the NYPD only paused once, at a food retailer to chant "Boycott Stop and Shop."
And continued walking down to the factory that seemed to have given their replacement workers the day off.
To meet with the people that the day was all about, the workers who have been sitting out in the cold and rain all of these months.
And some of the other people that this should be all about for our elected officials, the children of those workers.
These 136 workers and their families need your help and support. Next time you go shopping, walk by the Stella Doro display without buying and let your grocer know you support the Stella Doro strikers. If you have the time contact the owners at info@brynwoodpartners.com to let them know you will no longer be using their products. Or try Henk Hartong at huppsv@brynwoodpartners.com. Tell them to go back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement to preserve the living standards of their loyal employees!
