Brylane and Union Reach Agreement; Brylane and UNITE Agree on Process to Decide Unionization at Indiana Distribution Centers.

Business Editors

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2003

Brylane and UNITE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) have reached an agreement that paves the way for workers at Brylane's Indiana catalog distribution centers to decide if they want union representation.

Brylane and UNITE signed a joint statement of agreement on December 27, 2002 that spells out the process that will be used to determine whether the employees wish to be represented by UNITE. The process is a secret mail-in card/ballot procedure. It will be administered by Attorney Paul T. Deignan, a third party neutral. The campaign period will be from January 9 to January 23, 2003.

Bruce Raynor, President of UNITE, and Russell Stravitz, CEO of Brylane, jointly announced the agreement, noting that it will provide Brylane workers with the opportunity to freely express whether they desire union representation. The neutral third party will authenticate and count the employees' card/ballots as soon as possible after the campaign ends. If 50 percent plus one of the Brylane distribution center employees express the desire to be represented by UNITE, Brylane will recognize the union and begin negotiations on the first union contract for the Indiana facilities. If 50% or less of the employees support union representation, UNITE will discontinue its Brylane organizing activities in Indiana and elsewhere for at least one year.

In a joint statement, Stravitz and Raynor commented, "It is time for Brylane and UNITE to put aside their differences and let the employees decide whether they wish to be represented by the union. If they choose union representation, we have pledged to establish a friendly and productive relationship, to negotiate a contract in good faith and to deal fairly with each other. If they do not, all organizing efforts targeting Brylane will cease. In either event, we will support the decision of the employees."

Brylane, a subsidiary of Redcats, the home shopping division of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, markets and distributes apparel and home furnishings for various mail order catalogs. With over $1.6 billion in sales, it is one of America's largest catalog retailers.

UNITE has 250,000 members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. UNITE represents 30,000 workers in over 160 distribution centers like Chadwick's of Boston, TJ Maxx, Liz Claiborne, Federated, Levi Strauss and Xerox.