You are probably unaware that workers at the Stella D'Oro Biscuit factory in the Bronx have been on strike since August, when the private equity firm that purchased the company in 2006 refused to bargain with their union on a new contract. Yesterday, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board ordered their reinstatement, plus payment of back wages.
In a 32-page ruling on Tuesday, Steven Davis, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, found that the company had improperly refused to bargain with the union by declining to give the union a copy of its 2007 audited financial statement.The company can, of course, appeal to the NLRB, and probably will, because taking advantage of our inadequate system of adjudication in labor issues is the primary strategy for management in these situations. Still, it's nice to see any kind of victory in a case like this, no matter how fleeting. Also, I love me some Swiss Fudge cookies, and I'd like to be able to buy them again.The company declared an impasse on Aug. 27, 2008, nearly two weeks after the strike started, though legal conditions for doing so had not been met, the judge found. And when the union made an unconditional offer to return to work on May 6 of this year, the factory illegally refused, Judge Davis found. He ordered Stella D'Oro to pay the workers, with interest, going back to May.
Ever heard Patton Oswalt's rant about Stella D'Oro Breakfast Treats? It's hi-larious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-oxsMl3iCA
"Maybe if you learned to fuck me I wouldn't be gnawing on this thing like it's the paper boy's dick"
Wow I have not had those in ages. Long before the strike, and I used to eat them almost daily when I lived in NYC. I used to see them in Gelsons here. I'll have to start looking for them.
Stella D'Oro sounds like the newest addition to the Real Housewives of New Jersey.
The Best Way to Make an Afternoon Disappear: Bourbon. Law & Order: SVU on the widescreen. Weed. A package of Stella D'Oro Swiss Fudge cookies.
taking advantage of our inadequate system of adjudication in labor issues is the primary strategy for management in these situations.
There is absolutely no downside for Stella D'Or in appealing, losing, and appealing again. The amount of money the workers earn elsewhere during this period is deducted from the backpay that Stella D'Oro has to give them (and the workers are obligated to try to find work).
I once did a case like this and won all the way. Then the company declared bankruptcy to avoid paying the judgment. Workers are unsecured creditors, so they never saw a dime. That whole process four years, due to delays by the NLRB and foot-dragging by the company.
I don't think it's coincidental that workers compensation is the same type of system - originally created the help employees and protect employers, it's turned into a game of delay by the employers, literally and figuratively starving out the employees until they just give up and go away or settle for a small part of what they should have had. In each case, workers would be better off with any law in place.
I meant, better off without any law in place.
The Anisette Biscuits. I'm coming home.
I actually live around the corner from the Cookie Sweat Shop and I found it hard to fathom that these workers are still on strike after all this time. How is that possible? I am terrified that I am going to be called for jury duty. I will have to take a leave of absence from my part-time slave labor gig. But these people can afford to play chicken with the Corporate Baker Man? It does not compute! But I am glad that their marching was not done in vain. Also: Swiss Fudge cookies are sublime!
No bagel, no bagel, no bagel!
And then the plant shuts down:
Stella D’oro Factory to Close in October
By Jennifer 8. Lee
Stella D'oro factoryHiroko Masuike for The New York Times The Stella D’oro biscuit factory in the Bronx will close in October, its owners announced on Monday.
Last week, a federal judge ordered Stella D’oro to reinstate 134 workers after a protracted 10-month strike. This week, the company invited the workers back. It also announced that it would close the factory in October.
The decision to close Stella D’oro’s only factory, which is based in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, was made by Brynwood Partners, the private equity company based in Greenwich, Conn., which bought the company in 2006.
“The decision to close the Bronx bakery operations has not been made in haste or without significant planning,†a statement from the management said. Operations will be moved elsewhere and the products would continue, the statement said.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/stella-doro-factory-to-close-in-october/