Workers Save Plant in Court Victory Over Wells Fargo - IUE-News
 Trenton, N.J.

More than 400 members of IUE-CWA Local 76B kept their jobs after helping their employer win a reprieve in federal bankruptcy court.

The workers at Bamboo Abbott, a manufacturer of customized window treatments, packed a court hearing where Wells Fargo tried to stop the family-owned company from using its savings to keep the company running.

Bamboo Abbott needed to tap into cash reserves because Wells Fargo had pulled the company’s line of credit, however that cash was used as security for other Wells Fargo loans.

“This is a basically sound company that needs to weather this downturn in the economy,” said Isabel Pietri, President of Jamaica, N.Y. Local 76B. “But like most companies, it operates on a line of credit. When the bank shut that down it had no choice but to seek bankruptcy protection.”

The judge held a private conference with attorneys for the bank and the company and negotiated an agreement to allow Bamboo Abbott to tap into its cash collateral and to return the interest rate paid to the non-default rate. The issue will be revisited in October.

“I came to help my employer so we won’t lose our jobs,” said Marianna Negron, a machine operator with 23 years’ seniority, who made the trip to the courthouse. “Look at all the years I’ve put in. I have a family and it’s hard to get jobs out there.”

Pietri and her members were outraged that Wells Fargo took $25 billion in taxpayer monies as part of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program – ostensibly to ensure that money kept flowing for business loans – and then turned around and cut off credit to Bamboo Abbott.

“Wells Fargo is making a name for itself in forcing companies into a cash crunch so they have to shut down,” said Pietri. Her research shows that Wells Fargo is responsible for the loss of thousands of jobs across the country.

In a case that drew congressional attention, Wells Fargo tried to close the Chicago-based Hartmax, an internationally known men’s apparel maker (President Obama is one of the company’s many famous customers).

After intense political pressure – including a threat by the state of Illinois to stop the $8 billion of business it had with Wells Fargo – the bank ultimately allowed the company to be sold so it could remain open.

Said Congressman Phil Hare, who used to be president of the Hartmax local, “I will not continue to send money to banks that run people out of their homes and businesses. I’m livid with Wells Fargo. I don’t know what their logic is.”

Similarly, the United Electrical workers are fighting Wells Fargo’s decision to cut liquidity for the Quad City Die Casting factory in Rock Island, Ill.

But it doesn’t stop there. From Alabama to Massachusetts to California, companies are closing, not paying workers and more because of Wells Fargo’s actions.

 “Congress needs to investigate what Wells Fargo is doing with our money,” said Pietri. “Because they certainly aren’t using it to help workers and their employers.”

Earlier this year Wells Fargo was forced to cancel a junket to Las Vegas after news of the trip was leaked.

Yet in August, the company announced it was increasing the salaries of its top executives, giving CEO John Stumpf a $4.7 million boost. The increase is in stock that can’t be sold until the TARP money is repaid.

Bamboo Abbott grew from a small company of 30 workers in the Bronx to owning two plants employing 450 workers in Edison and Perth Amboy, N.J. IUE-CWA members’ work is sold through Empire and Blinds to Go.

Comments are closed.