Pechter's Harrison Bakery Strike

Did anyone see the article in the Observer today about the Pechter's Bakery strike? I can't help but think that they didn't bother to check their facts at all when they wrote that article!
I have been a patron of the Harrison Pechters store for many years, and I enjoy fresh bread that I get there every morning and and sweet smell that comes from that plant. All I had to do was walk into the store and ask what the strike was all about and I got a more accurate account from the cashier than their writer did from whoever their source was.
First of all I was told that there are a number of union members now on the picket lines that wanted to take the deal offered by the present owners but whose lives were threatened if they did not picket along with the rest of the workers.
But besides that, in today's market, the offer to the workers was more than generous for unskilled labor. If Pechters posted a multi-million dollar loss last year why are these workers demanding more instead of understtanding that the company might go out of business????? What is so horrible about a company sponsered 401K? Or when did it become a crime to ask the workers to contribute to their health care instead of having the company pay for it in full? I pay more than $60 a week at my job for a family health care plan. I don't expect my employer to cover the bill.
From what I gather, the company sponsered health plan provides better coverage than the union healthcare. Many jobs these days don't even offer health or 401Kt! The union also demanded more sick, vacation, personal days, and a longer lunch. There is no law that requires the company to give them more.
Would these workers be better off unemployed? Why would Harrison want to lose a business that provides jobs to hundreds of workers? The article repeated numerous times that the owners are anti-union, but the article did not mention that the owners have had an entirely amiable relationship with the unions at their other bakery, or with the other three unions in the Harrison plant. Perhaps it is the workers on strike who are misinformed or wrong in this case.
If their jobs are so difficult and the workers so skilled, the bakery would have had to shut down, but everyday I pass by and get my rolls, they seem to still be going strong. And what about their costs? I am angered an appalled by the automatic defense of the workers actions. If I were them, I wouldn't want to lose any benefits either, but it seems to me that they are just being greedy. They won't have a union pension, but they will have a 401K, they won't have union medical, but they'll have a company sponsered plan that has better benefits than what they have now. If the other unions aren't kicking up a storm, what makes everyone think that its greedy owners, and not overly demanding workers that are at fault here? If the bakery changed hands so many times as your article states, does it not occur to anyone that they obviously had problems? No one would be selling a profitable business that often. If this is what is necessary for the company to make money, the workers need to understand and bear with the company so that when better times come, they will be rewarded. If I owned the company you can be sure I would never want to reward workers that walked out on me at the worst time. And if the price of flour really did go up 600% in the last year, it seems to me this would be the time the company would be looking to cut costs.
The worker also told me that there was going to be an expansion of the retail store with all sorts of cakes and goodies being made fresh on the premises, but now that there is a strike, it doesn't look likely anymore. What a waste! Doesn't our town want this type of business? Or would we rather the people working there were on the street?

How much are the workers being paid now? If they are unskilled I cant see it being very much. Then on top of that you want them to pay into a 401k, and pay for medical? How long are their breaks now? How much more time are they demanding? What amount of break time do they get in relation to the hours they work? If business is so bad why are they opening an expansion? It seems to me you are either antiunion in general, or you have some affiliation with the bakery. You wrote an awful lot words but you didn't give any facts or comparisons. Answer some of those above questions and I may start to agree with you. In my general experience when a union strikes its for good reason. When you strike you don't get paid. Its a last resort so I'm sure things aren't as one sided as you make them out to be.

cxcvxc

Jeff Nice wrote:

How much are the workers being paid now? If they are unskilled I cant see it being very much. Then on top of that you want them to pay into a 401k, and pay for medical? How long are their breaks now? How much more time are they demanding? What amount of break time do they get in relation to the hours they work? If business is so bad why are they opening an expansion? It seems to me you are either antiunion in general, or you have some affiliation with the bakery. You wrote an awful lot words but you didn't give any facts or comparisons. Answer some of those above questions and I may start to agree with you. In my general experience when a union strikes its for good reason. When you strike you don't get paid. Its a last resort so I'm sure things aren't as one sided as you make them out to be.

What the people from the store at pechters have told you are false they realy do not know what is going on because they are all considered new employees.We are hard working people that have been is this company for 10,12,15,20,25,30 years not people that have just started there.What this company is offering us is an insult for us no respect not even because we have been there for all this time. A few years back they took a week of vacation days and some personal days due to the fact that the company was hurting. we agreed because we did not want to see the company close, why? because this place is part of our lives.When it came time for our contract renewal they slapped us in the face big time by telling us they wanted to cut our pay like half our pay check and cut most of us on 2 more vacation week days no more personal day and 2 sick days
they do not want to garuntee us 40 hours and no more pension and no more health benefits do you think we could pay our health insurance on a pay cut and not garunteeing us 40 hours. that is an insult. the owners should take a look at us we are not bad people we are all hard working people that have been giving this place our all.We just want to work with no problems like we have been for many years.They should cut the pay on some of the office managers especially that skinny chic(.).So sir, lady or young person you are not well informed.So if you wish come on down to the strike line and we will show you in black and white what there offering us and talk to us the real people we are all good people.

when the owners were asked why are they doing this to the workers is it because they are having money problem they responded no we are not having any money problems at all . so why do they want to do this big cut to us only and not to management. and we don't know to much about the other bakery but from what we hear they have no union over there at all and they pay the people minimum wage we also hear other funny stuff.they are still going to expand the place. no matter what. you really are bad informed and beleive everything you hear. do you really think we want to be on strike we have families,rent,mortgages,sick children school tuitions to take care of if there offer wasn't that bad don't you think we had taked it with no problem we gave them back a lot a few years ago. what they want is more and more they are greety!! if they payed us what they payed the managers then ya we would be able to pay for our insurance and no one but no one has threaten anyone everyone thats on strike are very mature enough to make there own decision and know the difference between right and wrong and what is being done to us is wrong and by the way you sound like you are on of them.

make your calculations your pay gets cut to
$ 11.00 an hour but they do not garuntee you
40 hours ok now dependening your dependants
they take a % of taxes which is about
$120.00 dollars weekly and then the insurance
lets say what you said that you pay
$60.00 dollars weekly take your calculations what will we be bringing home do you think you could live on that so again get your info correct come and talk to us i think after this you would want to be on strike with us and for us. don't get me wrong $11.00 dollars an hour is not bad for someone that is just starting but we put a lot of years here to take that big payng cut.if we did get payed that amount them we would have to calculate our cost of living bases on that amount. that is so not the case for us

Unfortunately, as competition and severe economic factors hamper the fresh baked good business, there are no longer the margins available to support the amount of wages and benefits that these workers have accumulated over their time of service.

A company can no longer stay viable offering six (6) weeks of paid vacations, ten (10) sick days, and five (5) personal days to workers.

At least the RP baking crew was forthright with its' offer and didn't do what Amoroso Baking in Philadelphia did. They shifted their business to a non-union, enterprise zone, out of state bakery, that they own,and laid off one-third of their union work force due to 'loss of business.'

Things need to change in the industry to remain viable. Look at IBC, the largest bakery in the nation, that has been in bankruptcy for many years, and always threatening liquidation. Labor, fuel, insurance and the current wheat situation doesn't bode well for any of the areas bakery businesses. Jobs are hard to come by, mortgages are failing. Today it seems, any work is good work.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
-- Jedi Master Yoda

The Amoroso story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stori...

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
-- Jedi Master Yoda

If it's really that bad, why strike? If it were really that bad, it seems to me, I would seek employment elsewhere.

Just a thought.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
-- Jedi Master Yoda

Unless of course, I was getting MORE than my MARKET VALUE. ;-)

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
-- Jedi Master Yoda

Can you guys bake a 14" inch bread

To Yoda, Don't you think they used union labor when they built the Death Star? I guess all the Jedi were really Republicans and the Sith were Democrats. Makes you wonder if Annakin was right after all.

I like wax bread

Younglings were union; Anakin was RIGHT.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"
-- Jedi Master Yoda

HA HA HA HA