About 400 union workers employed at a Just Born Quality Confections facility in Bethlehem, Pa., went on strike September 7. The third-generation company makes Peeps and Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales candies.
It's the first strike at the company in four decades,
the Allentown, Pa.,
Morning Call
reported.
A strike in 1972 lasted one day, the article said.
Members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 6 have been working under an expired contract since June, the
Morning Call
article said. Disputed issues include wages, health benefits and pensions. The union voted to strike on September 2. Local 6 has represented Just Born workers since the 1950s, the article said.
Just Born will continue to produce candies using non-union workers and managers and does not expect serious production delays, article said. Christmas and Halloween candy production already has been completed, and Halloween orders have already shipped, a company spokesman told the
Morning Call
. A striking union member told the
Morning Call
that Easter orders are beginning to arrive.
Just Born employs a total of 600 workers. It produces Goldenberg's Peanut Chews at a factory in Philadelphia. The 35 union workers in Philadelphia belong to a different local and have also been negotiating a new labor deal, the
Morning Call
article said.
Candy Industry
magazine has reported that Just Born generates sales of $231 million, the
Morning Call
article said. (Source:
Morning Call,
Sept. 7, 2016.)
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