After a two-and-a-half-month fight, striking workers at Hollander won a new contract. On May 17 they voted 145-5 to ratify the agreement and return to work.

Some workers embraced each other with joy, others went to their cars and honked their horns, as they left the offices of their union, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

According to one unionist, Gregorio Rosales, workers were told the new contract includes a 401-(k) retirement plan and wage increases of 25 cents an hour the first and second years and 15 cents an hour the third year. Workers are awaiting further details.

The 450 workers had been on strike since March 8. Hollander employs 1,300 workers nationally and has plants in California, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, and Pennsylvania, as well as in Canada.

The workers at the company’s Frackville, Pennsylvania, plant, who had been on strike since May 1, also returned to work with a new contract. Workers at the Tignall, Georgia, plant honored the picket line set up by strikers from Los Angeles, refusing to work for the duration of the strike. They too are back on the job.

Alberto Pantoja, one of the original founders of the union at Hollander, said, "We made some gains. It was a tough fight and a lot of us weren’t prepared [for the strike] but we held in there and learned a lot. Next time we can strengthen what we gained."

Bennie Chandler said, "It was a good fight. If you don’t stand up they run over you."

On Monday, May 21, the workers at Hollander gathered together before work hours at the Seville factory here, all dressed in their red union shirts, to enter the plant with their heads held high. The company wanted them to return the previous Friday but they had voted to return Monday. A popular chant during the strike was "Sí se puede!" (Yes we can!), but this day the chant was "Sí se pudo!" (Yes we could!)

Suddenly, a bus carrying scabs came rolling by and turned into the parking lot. Replacement workers were let into the plant, as they had been from shortly after the strike started. The company told the unionists that the new contract was not in effect yet and since they didn’t know how many unionists would come back to work they had made other arrangements. They demanded that the workers enter the plant department by department, leave their names and phone numbers, and wait to see if the company needed them to work that day.

"We all go back together or none of us go in," a few workers said. This statement caught on and was repeated over and over by different workers. The unionists ended up leaving that day.

The next day, the workers gathered again and all went in together. Later the company informed about 16 workers from the second shift that they didn’t have work for them. At the Boyle plant about 40 workers were sent home. A small number of scabs continued to work in the Seville factory. UNITE member Martha Bonilla reported that a number of workers were being forced to change departments. Her supervisor told her to move to the feather department or be fired.

The unionists who had been sent home gathered outside the plant for the next two days, while those inside protested and demanded that the workers outside be let back in and the scabs be sent home. There was talk of a sit-down strike.

On May 24, they succeeded in getting all the replacement workers out, the majority of the unionists in, and an agreement to pay the few workers still not back on the job, while they waited to be recalled to work the next week. Some of the scabs threatened Hollander with a boycott and protest for being fired from a job they had been led to believe was permanent. The unionists assessed their battle. "It was a victory. During these two months we learned to defend ourselves. We learned more outside during this time than the whole time we worked inside," said María Meléndez. "We’re ready for the next fight."

Jesús Muñoz said, "It was a tough struggle but with a lot of heart. You can’t win without a union. We won’t permit them to brainwash us to vote the union out. Today we are stronger, and we will defend the union."

Leticia Serrano remarked, "It was tough but worth it. Today the people have learned something about defending themselves. Before everybody was afraid of everything, of saying what they thought. But now we know how to defend ourselves."

Vera Amancia said, "Thank God we came to an agreement. I want to congratulate everybody for having the courage to fight this contract. I want to give thanks with all my heart to all the people who came to support us." he concluded, referring to other workers, "If one day you need our help, we’ll be there."

Francisco Cipriano is a meat packer. Wendy Lyons is a garment worker.  
 
 
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