Unite here, the union that represents 400,000 workers in the textile, apparel, hotel and restaurant industries, and Hugo Boss Group are continuing talks over the terms of a new contract at a warehouse and distribution center in Midway, Ga.
Union representatives from Hugo Boss’ Cleveland manufacturing plant joined local union leaders and warehouse employees at a press conference on Thursday in Savannah’s Johnson Square to show their support for workers who have been seeking a new contract since April. Union leaders are pushing for a more uniform wage increase over the course of the next three years and the creation of a pension plan.
Harris Raynor, UNITE’s southern regional director, described the negotiations with German manufacturer Boss as the most unusual in which he had ever been involved, since the amount of wage increases being sought by the two sides has been settled at $1.50.
“We have agreed upon the total amount of wages over the three years of the contract, but not about how that money will be distributed over that three years,” said Raynor.
Hugo Boss is proposing a 25 cent raise in the first and third years of the contract and a $1 raise in the second year, according to Raynor. He and other union members claimed the 25 cent raises do little to offset basic increases in the cost of living, especially with fuel prices showing no signs of retreating from record highs. They also contend the larger raise in the second year is a response to the planned opening of a Target distribution center in the area.
Lorenzo Walker, union president for Local 2448 and a worker at the Savannah facility, said the 25 cent raises were the same they were offered in their first contract when the warehouse opened in 2001.
“They’ve gotta live and get to work and they’re just not making it,” said Walker, who said the average hourly wage for each of the warehouse’s 80 employees is between $6 and $7 an hour. “The employees have made it very clear, they will take 50 cents raise each year.”
More than half of the workers at the warehouse are union members.
Jose Torres, a union member who works at Boss’ Cleveland facility, said workers at his plant have a pension plan and make anywhere from $11.20 to $16 an hour. Torres noted the Cleveland facility is larger, having both manufacturing and warehouse operations, and the majority of workers have been there between 10 and 15 years. The starting wage in Cleveland is $10 an hour, according to Torres.
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“We want to let them know here in Midway that they are a part of Hugo Boss and should be treated fairly,” said Torres. “They’re just now opening their eyes and seeing they’re not alone in this fight. Now, hopefully the message we bring down will motivate and help them fight better to get what they need.”
Hugo Boss declined to comment on Monday.
Negotiations between union representatives and Hugo Boss executives began in April. Those talks quickly fell apart and workers have been working without a contract since. In June, UNITE organized a series of protests at 12 stores in the U.S. and Canada selling Hugo Boss merchandise.