An administrative law judge in July ordered the factory to reinstate the striking workers (1). The result, the company is closing down the plant and moving to Ohio (2). Ha-ha!

What idiots, what maroons these union workers. Now faced with unemployment they are crying and hoping that someone else will buy the plant and keep it in the Bronx. Yeah, there's a long waiting list of corporations wanting to buy union factories that are being bled dry. Union officials are hoping they can find some resolution to the problem of keeping the plant open (3). How about a 20% reduction in pay and scaling back on benefits? Oh wait, you've already turned that down.

The Union Workers deserve to lose their jobs. The corporate owners of Stella D'oro can teach the rest of corporate America a lesson: the best weapon against union thuggery is to simply close down and move elsewhere. Remember, the greatest expansion of American jobs occurred as union strength was declining.

ENDNOTES

(1):

NY Times, Bronx Cookie Plant Is Ordered to Reinstate Striking Workers

The Stella D’Oro Biscuit Company factory in the Bronx, where 134 workers on strike since last August have been replaced, must reinstate the workers and pay them wages going back to May, a federal administrative law judge has ruled.

The 134 workers, members of Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers, went on strike on Aug. 14, two weeks after their contract had expired.

Most of the workers at the factory, at 184 West 237th Street in the Kingsbridge neighborhood, are paid $18 to $23 an hour, according to the union’s lawyer, Louie Nikolaidis. The union and the company could not reach an agreement over a new contract. Stella D’Oro demanded that the union accept a $5-an-hour wage reduction for certain workers, along with cuts in pension and heath care benefits, Mr. Nikolaidis said.

(2):

NY Times, Stella D’oro Factory to Close in October

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.

(3):

Daily News, Cookie's crumbling at Stella plant: Ex-strikers, pols hope to keep company from scrapping facility

Striking workers returning to the Stella D'Oro cookie factory in Kingsbridge are hoping against the odds that a resolution can be found to keep the plant from closing in October.

"It's kind of confusing right now. We don't know what they're trying to do," said Sara Rodriguez, a manager at the plant. "Maybe they're just trying to scare us. That's what they wanted to do from the beginning. We're just hoping that someone else will buy the company and we can stay with them."

Local officials are scrambling to convince the factory owners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm called Brynwood Partners, to reconsider its decision to close.

"Right now, the short-term plan is to really reach out to Brynwood and talk some sense into them and get them to stay here," said John DeSio, spokesman for Borough President Ruben Diaz.