More than six years after Del Monte shut down its pineapple plantation and packaging operations in Hawaii, 512 former employees are eligible for $850,000 in additional severance payments plus interest, a testament to the value of union representation.
Background
In early 2006, Del Monte announced plans to close its operations in Kunia and leave Hawaii at the end of 2008. The workers were understandably devastated by the announcement, some having worked for Del Monte more than 30 years.
However, they were even more shocked when the company, which had been in effects bargaining with the ILWU for months, suddenly announced plans in November 2006 to immediately shut down operations, almost two years ahead of schedule. Because the company failed to provide 60 days’ advance notice as required by state and federal law, the company was forced to keep all the employees on the payroll until January 2007, even if no work was offered.
The ILWU filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company. The Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB), which has jurisdiction over agricultural workers, ruled in March 2007 that Del Monte failed to bargain in good faith and, as a remedy, ordered the company to pay the employees additional severance through the date of the initially scheduled closing.
Thanks to ILWU spokesperson Fred Galdones, now retired as ILWU President, and the rank-and-file negotiating committee, the ILWU was able to secure, through effects bargaining, severance payments for all Regular, Non-Regular, and Covered Seasonal employees, even though the original contracts only provided severance to laid-off Regular employees. Thus, the additional severance ordered by the HLRB for the 22 months from the actual closure to the originally announced date of closure is available to all bargaining unit employees working for Del Monte in January 2007.
Del Monte appeals delay payments
But the payments were not immediately made because Del Monte had objections and appealed the HLRB decision to the Circuit Court, the Intermediate Court of Appeals, and finally the Hawaii Supreme Court. Although the HLRB decision was upheld at all levels, the appeals served to delay payment of the additional severance for more than six years
When the Supreme Court decision was issued last October, the ILWU and Del Monte began discussions over how the additional severance would be distributed. Through these discussions, aided by the ILWU’s motion with the Circuit Court for an order to require Del Monte to pay interest on the additional severance, the ILWU was able to get safeguards in the procedures employees had to follow to perfect their claims plus three years of interest on the additional severance.
Rules for distribution
In the final, recently negotiated agreement, the union and the company agreed that distribution would be made by Del Monte from Florida, but with sufficient time for employees to complete forms and obtain documents to submit before the deadline. All ILWU bargaining unit employees on the company payroll in January 2007 are eligible. Surviving spouses and children of deceased employees who were eligible can also file claims for the severance.
In mid-April, eligible employees received notices from Del Monte at their last known address about how to claim their additional severance. Documents to prove identity and current address are required to be sent to Del Monte in Coral Gables, Florida no later than July 25, 2013. More than six years after Del Monte shut down its pineapple plantation and packaging operations in Hawaii, 512 former employees are eligible for $850,000 in additional severance payments plus interest, a testament to the value of union representation.
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ILWU Local 142 Vice President Teddy Espeleta and Social Services Coordinator Joanne Kealoha met with former Del Monte pineapple members to explain that the union won additional severance pay for them. The legal action requires the company to pay almost $850,000 in additional severance.
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