Hickey-Freeman will Not be Liquidated! Schumer Gives Support to Local Workers

June 9, 2009—Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) voiced his support for suit manufacturing workers at a labor rally organized by Workers United at Hickey-Freeman. Chicago-based Hartmarx, the parent company of Hickey-Freeman is in bankruptcy after bailed-out bank Wells Fargo & Co.—Hartmarx's main creditor and recipient of a $25 billion taxpayer bailout—drastically cut the company's credit line. Wells Fargo has threatened to liquidate both companies' assets, which would cut some 5,000 jobs.

While Schumer and Workers United union members spoke on the inside, community members, union members of the Industrial Workers of the World, and Rochester Indymedia were offering support on the outside after being denied entrance to the plant.

Rochester IMC and ROC-IWW conversed with Hickey-Freeman workers not at the rally through a fence surrounding the industrial campus. One worker thanked everyone for coming to stand with them. She said, “Hickey-Freeman is responsible for the wonderful diversity in Rochester—they brought my parents from Italy to work here.” She also felt frustrated that all the negotiations thus far had taken place in Chicago but she was glad to see Schumer in Rochester talking about and to the Hickey-Freeman employees.

After the rally ended, Schumer drove up to supporters and spoke from the passenger seat of his car. He said that Emerisque of London has emerged with a credible offer for the manufacturer, and that the company would not be liquidated.

“Hickey-freeman will [continue to] make suits in Rochester,” Schumer said.

All parties in the buy-out have until June 30th to respond, according to the bankruptcy agreement.

Earlier in the month, Hartmarx and Hickey-Freeman workers, voted to sit-in and occupy their plants if Hartmarx's creditor, Wells Fargo, liquidated the company. The IWW suggested that workers take over and run the plant if a buyer is not found. There are many examples of this happening worldwide, as the idea of worker self-management catches on around the globe—one of the most recent examples in Chicago and an internationally known example in Argentina.

Hickey-Freeman has been in Rochester since the early 1900's and is one of the top suit manufacturers in the world. The workers at that plant have been proud members of the Rochester Regional Joint Board for over 70 years.