Washington, D.C.--This is a victory for union workers. I urge Stella D’oro to give up their ill-advised fight to reduce the wages and benefits of these men and women and immediately put the 135 workers back to work.

The National Labor Relations Board made the right ruling in ordering Stella D’oro to reinstate the workers and pay them wages going back to May, with interest. But it should have ordered back pay for the full term of the strike.

The men and women were forced to walk a picket line for 10 months, through a cold winter and very wet spring, because of management’s unfair actions. These men and women had worked long and productively for Stella D’oro and helped to make it a successful product. Their dedication earned them better treatment than they received. Buying a company, and then cutting wages to pay for the purchase is unfair to the workers

That kind of shabby treatment is not what they deserved. I was impressed by the spirit of these working men and women the times I visited them on the picket line. I wrote to management telling them to be fair to their workers. Had management done the right thing then, they would not have to face this adverse NLRB ruling today.