Contract settlement at American Licorice

UNION CITY, Calif.--On the 37th day of a strike at the American Licorice Co. factory here, workers in Baker's Union Local 25 voted by 81 to 61 to return to work on the terms that the company offered on the first day of the strike.

The new contract is a three-year deal. Under the terms, the company will continue to pay for workers' entire health care deductible in the first year. In the second year, workers will pay 50 percent of the deductible, and in the third, they will pay the entire deductible. Instead of a pension, retirees will now be given a one-time buyout of $10,000. Under the new contract, employees will receive a small wage increase of 30 cents an hour in the first year and another 35 cents in each of the second and third years.

Concern now lies in whether the company will level any reprisals against some of the leaders of the strike. Already, some workers have filed unfair labor practice claims with the because of the treatment they have received since the strike ended.

Despite the company's reports of operating as usual during the strike, it was revealed when workers went back to the job that the company was at a standstill and did not produce a thing during the time--leading up to Valentine's Day, Easter and the baseball season--when demand for Red Vines and other candies produced at American Licorice is at its height.

The company was successful in using the current economic downturn as political cover to gain an advantage over their workers, even though new machines had recently been bought for the factory costing nearly $10 million.

During the strike, anger reached a fever pitch when it was revealed that the company was hiring people to monitor the strike while posing as strikers. Additionally, company representatives reportedly snooped on meetings between the workers and Occupy Oakland forces planning a rally to support the picket line.

This, coupled with petty police threats to cite the union for everything from blocking the company driveways to disturbing the peace, having a Christmas tree, walking on the company property, holding a rally with an Aztec dance group, and citing passersby for honking their horns in support, made an impact on striking workers.

Adding to the workers' frustration was the fact that the union president reportedly had not filed unfair labor practices paperwork some three weeks into the strike, giving the company a legal advantage in the courts.

Just one day before the vote that ended the strike, some 100 Occupy Oakland demonstrators heeded a call from workers to support their picket lines. Scab trucks loaded with replacement workers, managers and supply trucks were stopped from crossing the picket line because of the efforts of the Occupy Oakland forces who organized in just three days to join some 200 workers and supporters on the picket line.

Local law enforcement, unaccustomed to the direct action tactics, did not know what to do as Occupy Oakland forces blocked the entrances to the factory, causing a backup on the main road in front of the factory.

While the contract settlement is a significant loss for the workers, the lessons learned and the prospects of solidarity with the Occupy Oakland forces in the struggles to come is an important development in the labor movement.