Wednesday, November 07, 2007
By KAIJA WILKINSON
Business Reporter

New Era Cap Co. on Tuesday said there is no basis to allegations by the Teamsters union that black employees at its Mobile location or any other facility have been racially discriminated against.

Over the weekend, Teamsters held protests at five locations, not including Mobile, as the Buffalo, N.Y.-based ball cap manufacturer and the union are in the midst of contract negotiations.

"In our opinion it's just an attempt to get what they're not getting at the bargaining table," said New Era's corporate communication manager, Dana Marciniak. "It's a sad way to put pressure on a company that is family owned, that is making American products in America."

The Mobile facility unionized in July, and company and union officials have had nine meetings since then, Marciniak said.

Contract negotiations began in September, according to a Teamsters spokesman.
The union alleges that in Mobile experienced black workers have been passed over for promotions, and that all but one of 20-plus managers are white.

The union also said that workers have reported "sweatshop"-like conditions at New Era's Jackson, Ala., plant.

That facility expects later this month to finish an expansion that allowed its manufacturing operations to move from Mobile. The Jackson facility has about 360 employees.

Distribution is still done out of the Mobile facility, which has 120 employees, Marciniak said.
She said the company thought contract negotiations were going well until the recent allegations and protests.

New Era maintains "very high standards" at all of its facilities, including those in Alabama, she said.
The company reported that a third-party audit at the Mobile facility in September found no claims of discrimination.

New Era also said that it is a member of the Fair Labor Association, which requires "a stringent code of conduct that includes providing a workplace free of discrimination of any kind."

Tim Freer, New Era's vice president of global human resources, sits on the association's board, and Marciniak said that is not a conflict of interest since audits are done unannounced and the company is also subject to audits by other third parties.

The average pay rate for hourly employees in Mobile is $9.50 per hour, Marciniak said, not counting bonuses and overtime.

The largest sports-licensed cap company in the world, New Era was founded in 1920 and manufactures and markets caps for major and minor league baseball teams, in addition to providing caps for a variety of other markets.

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