Statement from Cleveland Hugo Boss Workers Announcing Action Plan to Save their Jobs

For Immediate Release

Contact: Eric Sharfstein, Workers United, eric.sharfstein@workers-united.org, (917) 208-6980

The following is a statement from the workplace leaders at the Hugo Boss men's suit factory in Cleveland, Ohio:

On December 29th, just as we were getting ready to open the door on a new decade, our employer Hugo Boss announced it would be closing the doors of our factory in Cleveland, Ohio permanently.

We do not accept this decision.

Hugo Boss is a German multinational corporation that makes a lot of money selling clothing to some of the most successful and most recognizable people on the planet. This decision was based on corporate greed and not economic necessity. Hugo Boss is profitable and growing. The company spends big bucks on fancy ads and sports sponsorships like Davis Cup tennis, Indy Car Racing, sailing, golf and soccer.

Hugo Boss sells high-end suits - some retail for more than $1,000 - and can afford to manufacture in the United States. Their competitors make high-end suits in union factories in the U.S., Canada, and Italy with comparable costs. Hugo Boss just wants to cut corners by exploiting labor in other countries.

In recent months, we had been talking with Hugo Boss about a new contract. Amazingly, it was at the company's urging that we set up meetings with local and state officials in an effort to keep the plant operating. Then, in the midst of that process, Hugo Boss shocked all of us and our elected officials by announcing the closure of the plant.

Hugo Boss has taken action. And now it is our turn. We will raise our voices on behalf of Cleveland, and Ohio, and manufacturing workers across this country. We will take our message to Hugo Boss; to our political, religious, and civic leaders; and especially to Hugo Boss customers. Hugo Boss stores around the globe and other retailers selling Hugo Boss apparel can expect to see us and our allies outside.

Our factory's workforce, more than 90% female, represents more than 1,000 dependent children. Our jobs are important to the economic future of Cleveland, the state of Ohio, and the manufacturing sector in the United States. Many of us have worked here for twenty years or more... since before the factory was even owned by Hugo Boss. We're proud to say we manufacture men's suits in Cleveland, Ohio - right here in the U.S. - and we're proud to be a part of a tradition of suit manufacturing in Cleveland that goes back to the 1840's. We work hard and earn an honest wage. And now Hugo Boss wants to close the factory, put nearly 400 people out of work, and move our jobs to sweatshops overseas. That is arrogant. That is anti-worker. That is anti-American.

And that is unacceptable.

Workers United Local 168C (Cleveland, Ohio) leadership:

Tina Vazquez                                         Wanda Navarro

Coat Shop Expediter                             Coat Shop Finished Press

Sheila Bramante                                    David Correa

Pant Shop Repairs                                Cutting Room Cutter

Elba Nieves                                          Sheila McVay

Pant Shop Seamstress                          Coat Shop Finished Press

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