American Ball Cap Maker 'New Era' Invites Colleges to Take a Look Behind the Label.

Sports Editors, Baseball Writers & Columnists

DERBY, N.Y.--(BW SportsWire)--April 5, 2002

New Era Cap Company today called on administrators at colleges around the country to take an objective look at this 82-year-old producer of made-in-America ball caps - the last American company capable of supplying domestically produced caps to major professional and college sports teams.

At issue is a strong-arm campaign by one of the company's unions, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), to pressure colleges and universities into dropping their license with the company. New Era strongly denounced the campaign as false and irresponsible, noting that its ultimate effect will be to drive good American jobs overseas.

CWA has been on strike at the company's Derby, New York facility for nine months, the first strike in the company's history. Of the 350 workers at the Derby facility, 85 employees have remained on the job keeping production going. In addition, the company's other union, which represents more than 350 employees at its Buffalo facility, has not respected CWA's picket line.

New Era employs more than 1,500 people located at five facilities across the country.

"This campaign of misinformation and outright lies by the CWA can no longer be left unchallenged," said Chris Koch, president of New Era, and the fourth generation Koch to run the company since his great grandfather founded New Era in 1920. "The CWA should be negotiating a contract with us at the bargaining table, not on college campuses where they have provided well-meaning students with bad information."

One of the union's tactics has been to try to mislabel New Era a "sweatshop" - thus pressuring colleges and universities not to use the company.

"I am disappointed that the union chooses to use false labels like `sweatshop' in order to get what they want at the bargaining table," Koch said. "That label just won't fit. By pressuring colleges not to use us, the union will force these good jobs out of the U.S. and into countries where sweatshops are common. In my 25 years in the apparel industry I never thought I'd see the day that an American labor union would be in effect telling their membership and the public that it's better to buy foreign-made goods."

Over the past few years, New Era has spent in excess of $1 million dollars to upgrade equipment, automate processes, install safety mechanisms and implement health and safety programs at all its facilities, which are recognized as being state of the art in the apparel industry.

This month, for the fourth consecutive year, the company is being recognized at one of its Alabama production facilities for not having a single lost time injury. This facility, located in Demopolis, Alabama, is one of the largest sewing facilities in a state that has lost scores of apparel manufacturing jobs due to cheap foreign labor.

New Era has invited independent auditors into all of its facilities to verify its safe working conditions. It pays its workers some of the highest wages in the garment industry and has taken great pride in producing the highest quality headwear made anywhere in the country, a tribute to the hard-working employees, many of whom have been with the company for 10 years or more.

"That we are forced to defend ourselves against these irresponsible tactics is unfortunate," Koch said. "But what's far worse is the deception being perpetrated on some of these campuses and the impact that this could have on hard-working Americans."

New Era also strongly rejected a report by the Worker Rights Consortium that alleged unfair labor and safety practices. New Era has responded to the WRC report in writing and has taken further initiative to set up a meeting with the WRC in the coming weeks to open a channel for communication.

It is the company's hope that this meeting will create a shift towards a constructive dialogue with the goal of constantly improving the work environment for all of its employees.

"I'm delighted that we will have the opportunity to sit down with representatives from the WRC and show them the outstanding facility that we have here in Derby. I'm convinced that an open dialogue can move this process in a positive direction. I'm sure that once we discuss the facts, a common understanding can be reached and that we can address all of their concerns."

New Era has been a long-time supplier of caps to colleges and universities with some licenses going back more than 20 years. New Era has an ongoing practice of inviting colleges, key accounts and other licensing bodies into its facilities for tours and product demonstrations.

The company continues to bargain in good faith with the CWA and has held more than 35 bargaining sessions, the latest one coming in the next two weeks. New Era believes in the bargaining process and reaching an agreement through constructive negotiations.