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Striking Workers at New Era Cap Co. Ratify Settlement

Workers at the New Era Cap Co. voted to ratify a settlement ending a nearly year-long strike against the high-profile maker of ball caps for Major League Baseball and dozens of universities and athletic teams.

The workers, represented by Local 14177 of the Communications Workers of America, voted 125-36 last night for the new contract and will return to their jobs at the company's Derby, N.Y., plant, near Buffalo. Following an earlier vote by members that initially turned down the contract, the union held additional informational meetings to answer workers' concerns.

The four-year agreement establishes a fair and consistent pay scale, creates a union-management health and safety committee, increases health care coverage, provides for shift selection and return-to-work on the basis on seniority, and creates a severance package for workers not choosing to return to New Era, among other gains.

The New Era workers had the backing of the entire labor movement, with union members joining the New Era strikers on the picket line and in rallies throughout the strike, even during the Buffalo winter.

The support of United Students Against Sweatshops, the Worker Rights Consortium and other student associations was a key part of the campaign, with student activists at major universities calling on their campus administrators to drop New Era as a supplier until the company agreed to abide by the established labor code of conduct. More than a dozen universities indicated they would not continue their business relationships with New Era as a result of the student campaign.

CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, who heads the union's printing sector, praised union members for "sticking together so long in the face of a tough employer."

Jane Howald, president of CWA Local 14177, expressed thanks to "the community, church groups, other unions and students who brought our fight to college campuses across the nation."

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