Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Additional memo from Mr. Gumbinner 5 Union

Polychrome hired a paper cutter.  He was a recruiter for the paper makers union who got the other employees to join.  When the officers of the union were indicted for using the unions money for themselves, they fled to an African country.  The employees then joined a teamster local that was not involved with truck drivers.  I believe it may have been the same local that the Cellofilm  employees belonged to.  Bernie Gold and I visited the building the local owned in Fort Lee.  We offered to take them out to dinner.  We went to a nearby Italian restaurant. I went in and asked for a table.      The maître d’ said there would be a 45 minute wait .  When the men from the union entered, he asked whether they were with me.  When I said yes, he said I will have a table for you in five minutes.  We engaged an experienced labor lawyer to help us negotiate with the union.  Another year when we settled on a ten cent raise for the year and another ten cents for the following year, the man who was assigned by the teamster union to negotiate with Polychrome after four months came to us shaking.  He said we must pay something to the welfare fund or they will kill me. We agreed to pay a nickel an employee that year and a nickel next.