By RICHARD BYRNE REILLY
May 19, 2008
Local mom-and-pop sausage-makers are encased in a battle with a union they say is bullying them into bankruptcy
According to industry sources, Local 342 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union is telling the operators that there's a massive shortfall in pension funds and that the bacon makers must refill the missing coffers, sometimes demanding several million dollars from one business alone.
Most of the brat factories employ fewer than 100 workers and are family affairs that have ground out meats since the early 1900s.
Local 342 has been sending out poison-pen letters demanding millions in "owed" pension money. Local 342 President Richard Avandolo did not return repeated messages.
In a statement by his reps, the union said the pension shortfall was due to many factors, including a declining workforce.
The statement did not address allegations of strongarming.
