Union Vows to Fight Closing of Brooklyn Hugo Boss Plant
Posted on December 30, 2009
German based Hugo Boss has announced that it is closing its Brooklyn plant, which will throw 300 workers out of work. The unions are planning on fighting the proposed closure. The company is closing the plant in order to outsource the jobs overseas where workers can be hired for around $1 an hour.
Bruce Raynor, president of Workers United, Service Employees International Union, told the Sun Post, "This is a sweatshop company putting American workers on the street to exploit workers in poor countries and send the profits back to Germany."
Raynor also said the union will resist the plant closing "with everything at our disposal.
The current contract with the union expires in April, which is why May was picked as the plant's closing date. Hugo Boss has said it will provide outplacement training and severance packages to the 300 laid off workers.
Update: The plant was taken over by Keystone Tailored Manufacturing, which manufactures men's suits at the site.