"Buyer Said to Emerge for Brynwood's Stella D'oro," The New York Times, 8/21/09
After seeing its plans to unload Stella D’Oro Biscuit nearly collapse, Brynwood Partners may now have found a local buyer for the cookie maker. Nonni’s Food is said to be in talks to buy the operation, The New York Post reported.
This summer, Brynwood was faced with protests from disgruntled union workers over a potential sale to Lance Foods which workers feared would shut Stella D’Oro’s Bronx plant. But Nonni’s has a factory in the Bronx as well. Read more.
Prof. Peter Ranis' article on the potential use of eminent domain at Stella D'oro is zipping around the internet and, it appears, making it to all the right people and places. Dianne F., a retired autoworker and UAW member in Detroit, passed it along to members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) with the following note:
Dear Fellow Autoworker,
Here is an article about a group of workers who fought the employer in an 11-month strike only to go back to work and find that the employer wants to shut down the factory.
The workers and the community supporters just celebrated the 1st anniversary of the strike. They are now fighting to keep the plant open--by seeking to have the NY City Council and the state apply eminent domain laws to keep the plant open. It could then become a worker co-op.
Stella D'oro workers produce cookies, we produce vehicles, but the idea is a reasonable one: keep the plants open, workers employed and needed goods produced!
In solidarity,
Dianne
Congratulations to Prof. Ranis and to all the workers at Stella D'oro! You're inspiring union members here in New York and far beyond!
If you haven't already, click here to check out Prof. Ranis' article.
Click here to check out two scanned articles on our last rally at Stella from The Daily News and El Diario. We'd post direct links to them instead of scanned copies, but it appears that these stories ran in print only. Enjoy!
"No cierren Stella D'oro," El Diario La Prensa, 8/16/09
Nueva York — Decenas de trabajadores de la fábrica de galletas Stella D’Oro exigieron ayer a los propietarios de la empresa retornar a la mesa de diálogo a fin de evitar el posible cierre del sitio.
Durante una protesta en las afueras de la fábrica, ayer los trabajadores afiliados al sindicato de Pasteleros, Confeccionistas, Tabaco y Grano (BCTGM), dijeron que en caso cerrar el sitio, los empleados iniciarán una campaña de desprestigio a fin de denunciar lo que ellos calificaron malas prácticas laborales. Lee más.
Here is a brief write-up of yesterday's rally from the forthcoming issue of The Stella D'oro Cookie Cutter, our shop floor newsletter:
Despite the mid-August heat, between 200 and 250 labor and community allies came out to support us at our rally on Saturday the 15th. In addition to our usual supporters from NYSUT, the PSC, and the community, around 30 electricians from Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) were there. So was a vice-president from 1199 SEIU, which represents the health care workers at the Kingsbridge Heights Nursing Home, just a few blocks from our plant.
The number of our supporters is growing and so is the media attention we're attracting. Although it was only a fraction the size of our big May rally, this last one made it on the 11 o'clock news on CBS! We were also in El Diario. As 11-year Stella veteran Mistella Salazar told the paper, "It's not right that this company sees us as animals, as old clothing that is no longer useful and that it can throw out in the street without considering that we have families to feed."
Thanks for coming out!
"Bronx Stella D'oro Cookie Factory Closing Down," CBS, 8/15/09
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Workers at the Stella D'Oro plant in the Bronx rallied Saturday to fight for their jobs.
They say the owners' decision to close the factory this fall is a clear case of union-busting.
Stella D'Oro workers say the decision to close the factory, after eight decades, is a blatant case of retaliation for a strike they had waged for ten months, and the thought that all 138 union jobs could be eliminated is a shock to them. Read more or watch the video here.
"A Real Stella Solution," The Indypendent, 8/14/09
The 136 workers who ended their strike against Bronx-based Stella D’oro Biscuit Co. in July could offer a test case of whether the public sector is willing to intervene on behalf of workers.
With the United States facing its greatest rates of unemployment and under-employment in decades — currently 9.4 and 16.3 percent respectively — the efforts of Stella D’oro workers and neighborhood members will not be enough to save these jobs. What is needed is a coalition that includes neighborhood and labor groups, as well as legal and political activists, that will push the New York City Council and New York State Legislature, to apply eminent domain laws to keep the Stella D’oro factory where it is by having it become a worker-run cooperative. Read more.
Our friends at the Brecht Forum today sent out an e-mail blast to their list about our rally on Saturday! They pointed supporters to our website -- so we figure we should do the same. You can check out the Brecht Forum's website here.
Thanks to Stella D'oro supporter John F., the Stella D'oro Solidarity Committee agreed at our last general meeting to make a concerted effort to promote the following model resolution of support for the workers at Stella D'oro in our respective unions. Please raise it at your next union meeting!
"Stella D'oro Strike Slideshow," The Indypendent, 8/06/09
On August 13, 2008, more than 130 workers at the Stella D’oro Biscuit Co. factory went on strike, launching what would become one of the longest and hardest-fought labor battles in recent New York City History. See the slideshow.
