CONTRACT OFF THE TABLE
waldner’s: It’s financial decision to nix Teamsters Just ducking pension, say labor bigs
Continued from previous page where all the Local 814 union employees worked, and farm out its delivery services to subcontractors closer to the city.
With that move, Waldner’s claims it no longer has to bargain with Local 814 or honor its contract terms — or even keep its union employees on its payroll.
“(It) was a company business decision ... The decision was not a union versus non-union decision,” said Ryan Osborne, Waldner’s CEO.
But Jason Ide, president of Local 814, says the opposite.
“It’s all about getting out of the Teamsters pension,” he said. “That’s what they want to do.”
Local 814 filed charges against Waldner’s for what it said was an illegal lockout as of July 5.
Waldner’s said it gave appropriate notice 60 days in advance that it was going to terminate the employees.
The National Labor Relations Board will rule on whether the company has the right to drop its union contract by terminating employees.
Waldner’s and Local 814 also dispute the number of workers affected. The company says 20 fulltime staffers were let go; the union says it was 20 full-timers along with another 20 or so parttimers.
In addition, Osborne refuted that idea that Waldner’s wanted to bust the union to get out of its annual pension obligations.
“Because the Teamsters fund is currently underfunded, we still have to pay into it for the next 20 years,” said Osborne. “It’s not about getting out of the pension, it’s really not. We’re going to end up paying more into it, actually.”
The vast majority of Local 814’s workers at Waldner’s have more than 30 years on the job — meaning they’re vested in their pensions.
That doesn’t mean they don’t need to keep their jobs, the workers said Friday at a protest rally. And they don’t want future workers to be without union protections and benefits.
“The really bitter part of this is that Ryan Osborne and Waldner’s vice president Mike Cuellar used to be Teamsters. They used to work right alongside us,” said Kevin Roach, a Waldner’s mover and 814 shop steward.
Osborne confirmed to the Daily News he was a Teamster for three years before joining management.
Cuellar was too, and in fact vested his pension, meaning he will get a retirement payout from the same Waldner’s fund as the fired workers, Osborne said.
According to Osborne, the company began negotiating with Local 814 in December 2016 — but it was trying to establish severance terms, not re-up its contract.
The two sides only had one sitdown bargaining session this past March, said Ide.
A month later, the union got a termination letter in the mail from Waldner’s attorney.
“This letter will serve as the Employer’s official notice ... of its intention to terminate the contract,” the letter said.
Although Local 814 is fighting to keep the jobs, Ide said the union also proposed a severance deal of 11/2 weeks’ pay for each year served. The company countered with a different offer.
“We offered a lump-sum dollar amount,” said Osborne. “Whatever unused vacation, sick and personal time the employee had left, we would pay them that and match it.”
It’s all about getting out of the Teamsters pension. That’s what they want to do. Jason Ide, head of TeamsTers LocaL 814
Ide pointed out that by law the company has to pay the terminated for their unused vacation and other days. “So they’re just offering to match what the workers are owed anyway,” he noted.
Roach, who was hired in 1984, is owed $5,922 for unused vacation and other days, Ide said.
“He’ll get that check next week, because the company has to pay him that by law. Then, if he agrees to sign a nondisclosure agreement and agrees to stop picketing, the company is proposing to pay him another $5,922. His severance is contingent on that,” Ide said. “But he’ll never get it, because he’s not going to sign — and ultimately, we want these jobs back, not severance.”
Osborne also said Waldner’s helped several of the terminated workers find new union jobs with subcontractors — mostly The Advance Group — which took over Local 814’s jobs.
Some of the jobless workers did pick up new gigs in Local 814 shops — but it was because of the union’s efforts, not Waldner’s, Ide said. “We found work in other 814 shops, as we always try to do,” he said.
Osborne said that the company’s new subcontractors were also unionized, and mentioned Local 514, an unaffiliated part of the Brotherhood of Amalgamated Trades.
He said it offered employees 401k plans, health care and collectively bargained negotiations, but did not respond when asked to provide a copy of a contract.
Calls to BAT Local 514’s Westchester office weren’t returned. Local 514’s latest Department of Labor filings from April 2016 indicate it has three officers, roughly 500 members, $10,000 in assets and expenditures of $195,000 — about $5,000 less than it claimed to have made that year. Out at Waldner’s Farmingdale location, its offices and showroom remain open alongside the shuttered warehouse where Local 814 workers once had jobs. “We’re preparing to lease that out,” said Osborne. The company is still delivering and installing office furniture to some Long Island clients, he said. The labor dispute is also a source of agita for Steve Stern, a member of the Suffolk County legislature. He’s the husband of Waldner’s owner and president, Meredith Waldner.
Stern, a Democrat, was endorsed by the Working Families Party, a staunchly progressive and pro-labor political party that’s already lent its weight to Local 814 in its contract fight.
“Waldner’s is a profitable company with extensive taxpayerfunded contracts. It’s disgusting that they would lock out the very workers who have loyally built up their company over decades, and it is troubling that Steve Stern — who we’ve endorsed in the past — is reaping the financial benefits,” said Bill Lipton, state director of the Working Families Party.
Stern did not return calls for comment.