BRONX, NY, September 1 — If you walked into this little restaurant, you wouldn’t notice him sitting there nursing a coffee. And you wouldn’t notice the steady stream of men and women that come in when they can, to either pick up or drop off the latest copies of CHALLENGES. They are former Stella D’Oro workers, who struck the company for 11 months only to lose their jobs when the company was sold and moved.
They are bruised, but not beaten, still fighting back. Now they are fighting the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International union leaders, who have made it much harder for unemployed members to reach the “Golden 80” and qualify for a full pension.
“Golden 80” refers to a combination of age and years of service. So if you are 60 years old with 20 years of service, you qualify for a full pension. As of July 30, workers like the Stella D’Oro workers, who reach “Golden 80” while unemployed due to plant closings, will take a 40% cut in benefits, including those who only needed a month or two to qualify. If they hit “80” with less than 15 years of service, they will take a 60% cut. This is especially vicious as it targets the oldest workers who are the least likely to work again given the current economic crisis and mass racist unemployment.
One woman said, “I worked 27 years for this company and contributed to my pension. I need three months for Golden 80 and they want to give me 40% less!” The wife of a worker who was one month short of his “Golden 80” reported that this has made him physically ill, unable to sleep and suffering from high blood pressure. Another worker said, “We fought for a year and a half. We stood up for this union and they give away our pension!”
The union claims that the cuts were needed because the pension fund is in danger of going broke. But at the same time they were cutting Stella workers, they were cutting $300 supplemental checks to current Golden 80 retirees. Also, Stella D’Oro had to pay a $12 million penalty to the pension fund in order to withdraw from it. Yet, none of that money is being used to help the victims of the plant closing.
By mid-August the Stella workers were fighting back. They found a lawyer who has taken their case, but they will really need to rekindle the mass actions and militancy of their strike in the fight to protect their pensions. If they win, so will every BCTGM member.
As this fight unfolds, we are trying to organize Stella workers to join a contingent of unemployed workers in the October 2 march on Washington, D.C. (see page 1). Out of this struggle we will be in a better position to organize the unemployed, fight racist unemployment, and build the revolutionary communist PLP