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'Point Blank Body Armor' under fire
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Point Blank under fire: Workers complain of conditions at factory
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@herald.com
More photos R.C. WHITE / FOR THE HERALD
UNHAPPY WORKERS: Employees who tried to unionize Point Blank Body Armor protest outside the plant that makes flak jackets for the military and law enforcement agencies.
Point Blank Body Armor's business is protecting the lives of U.S. soldiers and police officers, but workers at its Oakland Park plant say the company is doing little to look after them.
After employees presented Point Blank with a plan to unionize Thursday morning, they say the company closed the plant and sent about 350 workers home. One leader of the movement was arrested for ''breach of the peace'' and fired by the company.
Workers expressed frustration with what they say are low pay and unsafe working conditions at the plant, where flak jackets for the military and law enforcement agencies are made. Point Blank has estimated it will generate $350 million in sales from a contract to produce the Interceptor, a light-weight vest worn by soldiers and Marines fighting in Afghanistan.
''They don't treat us like humans,'' Jorge F. Ramos said. The Fort Lauderdale resident has worked at the plant for about two-and-a-half years. ``The salary they give us isn't anything.
Company officials didn't respond to requests for comment, opting instead to issue a statement.
''Point Blank has been made the target of a union organizing campaign,'' the statement said. ``We respect our employees rights to choose or decline representation by a union, and we strongly condemn any conduct that might interfere with that free choice.
``Point Blank is committed to protecting public servants and our troops in the military. . . . We are equally committed to treating our employees fairly and to providing them with a safe and productive work environment.''
The company said it will resume operations this morning.
Workers protested outside the plant until being dispersed by Broward Sheriff Office deputies. Many later assembled at a nearby La Quinta Inn, jamming into the hotel's continental breakfast room before relocating to the Communications Workers of America union hall in Pompano Beach, where state Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, addressed them.
''This is a day you will never forget,'' Meek said, his words translated into Spanish and Creole for many of the workers in the crowd. ``This is a day you stood up for your rights, for your family's rights and for your children's rights.''
The audience erupted in a chant of ''Si se puede,'' or ``Yes we can.''
Sandra Hatfield, chief operating officer for Point Blank's parent company, told The Herald earlier this year that employees earn from $6 to $12 an hour. But some workers say most earn around $6, with very few making double-digit hourly wages. And they say they haven't received a raise in a few years.
In addition, workers complained about the working conditions. They say they are provided a limited amount of water while working in a factory with little or no air conditioning even though temperatures reach 100 degrees.
''We hope this company is not foolish enough to engage in a battle with these workers and this union over representation,'' said Bruce Raynor, president of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees (Unite!), which seeks to represent the workers. ``The workers have a right to a union. Taxpayer dollars buy the products.''
DHB Industries, the New York-based parent company, produced a $10.1 million profit on $98 million in revenue last year -- its second consecutive year of at least seven-digit profits.
Sadius Isma, the 31-year-old arrested and fired Thursday, said the events have given him the resolve to work to unionize Point Blank even if he won't be able to share in the benefits if the effort is successful.
''This is going to give me much strength to continue the fight,'' he said.
The workers plan to demonstrate outside the plant this morning.http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/3691010.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@herald.com
More photos R.C. WHITE / FOR THE HERALD
UNHAPPY WORKERS: Employees who tried to unionize Point Blank Body Armor protest outside the plant that makes flak jackets for the military and law enforcement agencies.
Point Blank Body Armor's business is protecting the lives of U.S. soldiers and police officers, but workers at its Oakland Park plant say the company is doing little to look after them.
After employees presented Point Blank with a plan to unionize Thursday morning, they say the company closed the plant and sent about 350 workers home. One leader of the movement was arrested for ''breach of the peace'' and fired by the company.
Workers expressed frustration with what they say are low pay and unsafe working conditions at the plant, where flak jackets for the military and law enforcement agencies are made. Point Blank has estimated it will generate $350 million in sales from a contract to produce the Interceptor, a light-weight vest worn by soldiers and Marines fighting in Afghanistan.
''They don't treat us like humans,'' Jorge F. Ramos said. The Fort Lauderdale resident has worked at the plant for about two-and-a-half years. ``The salary they give us isn't anything.
Company officials didn't respond to requests for comment, opting instead to issue a statement.
''Point Blank has been made the target of a union organizing campaign,'' the statement said. ``We respect our employees rights to choose or decline representation by a union, and we strongly condemn any conduct that might interfere with that free choice.
``Point Blank is committed to protecting public servants and our troops in the military. . . . We are equally committed to treating our employees fairly and to providing them with a safe and productive work environment.''
The company said it will resume operations this morning.
Workers protested outside the plant until being dispersed by Broward Sheriff Office deputies. Many later assembled at a nearby La Quinta Inn, jamming into the hotel's continental breakfast room before relocating to the Communications Workers of America union hall in Pompano Beach, where state Sen. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, addressed them.
''This is a day you will never forget,'' Meek said, his words translated into Spanish and Creole for many of the workers in the crowd. ``This is a day you stood up for your rights, for your family's rights and for your children's rights.''
The audience erupted in a chant of ''Si se puede,'' or ``Yes we can.''
Sandra Hatfield, chief operating officer for Point Blank's parent company, told The Herald earlier this year that employees earn from $6 to $12 an hour. But some workers say most earn around $6, with very few making double-digit hourly wages. And they say they haven't received a raise in a few years.
In addition, workers complained about the working conditions. They say they are provided a limited amount of water while working in a factory with little or no air conditioning even though temperatures reach 100 degrees.
''We hope this company is not foolish enough to engage in a battle with these workers and this union over representation,'' said Bruce Raynor, president of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees (Unite!), which seeks to represent the workers. ``The workers have a right to a union. Taxpayer dollars buy the products.''
DHB Industries, the New York-based parent company, produced a $10.1 million profit on $98 million in revenue last year -- its second consecutive year of at least seven-digit profits.
Sadius Isma, the 31-year-old arrested and fired Thursday, said the events have given him the resolve to work to unionize Point Blank even if he won't be able to share in the benefits if the effort is successful.
''This is going to give me much strength to continue the fight,'' he said.
The workers plan to demonstrate outside the plant this morning.http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/3691010.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878