Glover: Help Ohio plant, shun Hugo Boss at Oscars (take $3 hr cut in pay or we leave the USA)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

CLEVELAND (AP) - Actor and activist Danny Glover is calling on Academy Awards nominees and others in the film industry to not wear Hugo Boss suits at Sunday's awards ceremony.

The "Lethal Weapon" star, in collaboration with the Workers United labor union, made the request in a letter on behalf of 375 Cleveland-area factory workers who'll lose their jobs if the German company closes the plant at the end of next month as planned.

The Feb. 26 letter asks Hollywood to "take a small stand for American workers." It asks Oscars attendees to wear on their lapels a pin reading, "Keep the Hugo Boss Plant Open."

Workers United, which represents most of the plant's employees, said the plant is profitable and the company is shutting it because it can make clothing more cheaply in Europe. The clothing company, famed for its stylish fashion, has a facility in Turkey and contract workers in Romania and Bulgaria.


In this Jan. 9, 2008 file photo, Actor Danny Glover takes part in a panel discussion at Emerson College in Boston. Glover is calling on Oscar nominees and others in the film industry to not wear Hugo Boss suits to the Sunday, March 7, 2010 event. In collaboration with the labor union Workers United, Glover made the request in a letter dated Feb. 26 on behalf of about 375 Hugo Boss factory workers in Cleveland who will lose their jobs if the German company closes the plant next month as planned. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100306/D9E9DJEG0.html

[Rick Myers]

1. Excellent!!!

I support the boycott... And Hugo's cologne stinks too...

[boppers]

2. A notable Hugo Boss piece:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss

[Canuckistanian]

7. And this from his Fall 1933 Collection

Hitlerjugnend (Hitler Youth) uniform.
Very stylish, no?

[Raster]

34. Well, at least they looked good. And we know when it comes to Holocaust and genocide,

...appearance is everything!

History

Hugo Boss started his clothing company in 1924 in Metzingen, where it is still based, a small town south of Stuttgart. However, due to the economic climate in Germany at the time Boss was forced into bankruptcy in 1930. Undeterred, Hugo set up a new business and in 1931 became a member of the Nazi party. With the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933, Boss's business also began to prosper as he became an RZM-licensed (official) supplier of uniforms to the SA, SS, Hitler Youth, NSKK and other Party organizations.

With the defeat of Germany in 1945, Boss was charged with being sympathetic to the Nazi cause and using forced labor, and was denied the right to vote in Germany and ordered to pay a fine. He died in 1948 but his business survived.

In 1985 the company was floated on the stock exchange and the majority shareholder is now the Marzotto textile group. In the same year Hugo Boss launched its first fragrance.

Involvement in World War II

The all-black dress uniform of the Nazi Schutzstaffel or SS (the NSDAP paramilitary and military force), in use from 1932 until 1942, was designed by SS-Oberführer Prof. Dr. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer Walter Heck. From 1933, the Hugo Boss company was one of the firms that produced these black uniforms along with the brown SA shirts and the black-and-brown uniforms of the Hitler Youth.

[WriteDown]

3. But there doing the jobs that Germans won't do....

Oh wait, that's not how it goes...

[Omaha Steve]

4. The letter and the petition here

To read the entire letter, click below:

http://seiumaster.3cdn.net/1c589c4e974dfc5b24_z8m6bxuwn.pdf

Through ads on celebrity news websites and Google search ads, as well as a campaign via email, Facebook, and Twitter, Workers United is promoting an online petition asking fans to join Danny Glover in calling on Oscar attendees not to wear Hugo Boss. The signatures will be delivered to attendees before Sunday night.

To read the online petition, click below:

http://action.workersunitedunion.org/page/s/tellhollywood

Workers United represents the Hugo Boss manufacturing workers at the plant in Cleveland.

Workers United, SEIU is a union of 150,000 workers in the US and Canada who work in the manufacturing, distribution, laundry, food service, hospitality, gaming, apparel and textile industries.

SOURCE Workers United

http://www.workersunitedunion.org/

[Jefferson23]

5. Thanks for the links. n/t

[True_Blue]

6. Thanks for the post!

:kick:

[OhioChick]

8. Good for Danny Glover!!!

Class act. :thumbsup:

Thanks for posting, Steve. :)

[flvegan]

9. If I were a huge star, I'd go out of my way to wear it.

I'd wear a big pin about keeping the plant open and paying a fair wage. Then, when discussion of my attire arose, I'd say "don't I look just awesome in this quality suit? Know why? Made here in America. Hugo Boss should continue doing so, or I'll never wear this brand again, and neither should you."

Jesus, someone turn me into Johnny Depp already.

[begin_within]

16. Alrighty

[JTFrog]

24. LOL!

Well done.

:thumbsup:

[hfojvt]

36. Johnny Depp? I could be Johnny Depp.

You oughta shoot for a Sylvester Stallone or Matt Damon.

[ChromeFoundry]

10. Thanks for taking a stand on this, Danny!

And thanks for posting this, Steve!

:fistbump:

[Abq_Sarah]

11. What Hugo Boss is doing is ugly

Particularly since they're not losing money.

I would close my company down before I ceded control to a board of directors. They are interested in one thing: higher profits for shareholders.

As for Hollywood, a few people may opt for a different designer for one night but I guarantee it'll be forgotten by the next morning.

[No Elephants]

43. That is not how I see Hollywood at all.

To each his or her own perception, I guess.

[NNadir]

12. I have always liked Glover. He gave a great speech at the anti-war protests in New York during the

run up to the disaster in Iraq.

[Doremus]

13. Thank you, Danny Glover for calling attention to this!

[yurbud]

14. I wish he had run for governor against Arnold

[alp227]

15. Republican heads explode. Why?

- They want jobs in America. "They took our jobs!"
- They hate those snobby pointy-headed anti-War anti-Republican liberal pro-union pro-gay anti-religious pro-sex anti-moral Hollywood celebs.
- They hate those anti-corporate unions.
- Danny Glover, a movie star, just teamed up with a union to help keep jobs in America.
- Glover is standing up to outsourcing! YEE HAW!

[Enthusiast]

17. What usually happens

in a case like this is the union takes a pay cut saving the company millions of dollars then the company eventually leaves anyway. Happens all the time. SOP.

[GrantDem]

25. Yep. +1

[buckrogers1965]

38. Basically

They will use the money saved from the paycut to move the plant to another country with no protections for their workers and start using child slave labor working 16 hour shifts 7 days a week to make their clothes.

On a plus note it would be a great time for someone to open up a competing clothing plant in that same town and pay the workers an extra dollar an hour. Just think of all those years of experience those union workers have.

[louis-t]

39. Happened here in MI. Former repug Gov. Engler

gave the manufacturers huge tax breaks, drained the state treasury, then they moved anyway. Now he's the president of the Nationmal Association of Manufacturers.

[Enthusiast]

45. That is just sickening.

Such is the corporate influence in this nation.

[Ken Burch]

18. Danny Glover is a true friend of labor!

And taking these stances has probably hurt his career big time.

It also made it even funnier when HE was did a guest-shot on "My Name Is Earl" as Darnell's CIA-agent dad.

[Divine Discontent]

19. and if they close it, never buy it again - not that many could... Thanks Glover!!!

[diane in sf]

20. He lives here--he dropped in while we were doing get out the vote calls for Obama

he puts his money and action where his mouth is.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

22. Wow -- blackmail -- heavy!! They just started to bring some "boss" stuff

into my local store -- glad I know - I won't buy it!

[Dinger]

23. Definitely K & R!

I love Danny Glover!:)

[panzerfaust]

27. Well done Deets

truly a man to not shirk a task.

[RedRoses323]

28. Thank you Steve for posting this...

and love you Danny Glover! :bounce: :bounce:

[Starry Messenger]

29. Good on Danny.

:thumbsup:

[jmowreader]

30. The sickest part: there's no damn way they don't have unbelievable profits out of that place

A Hugo Boss suit runs about $800 at any online retailer that has them, and supposedly the "average retail price" for a Hugo Boss suit is $1100. The retailers are probably paying $100-$200 less for them, and Hugo Boss probably pays $500 to produce them.

Here we really need a little protectionist tariffing...if the government were to place a duty on imported suits that made Boss' suits more expensive to import than to make here, could that dissuade them from closing the plant?

[Kingofalldems]

31. Kick and rec for the workers

[progressoid]

32. I bet that the stars will be wearing clothes made by companies that aren't much better than Boss

I'm not defending Hugo Boss, but chances are celebs will have a hard time finding many clothiers that pay a living wage to their line workers.

[Fire1]

33. K&R n/t

[cyclezealot]

35. Don't forget to boycott the cologne

Should they shun American labor.

[NobleCynic]

37. $13 to $8.30 is a $4.70 paycut. Wow. Good faith negotiation my ***.

Best of luck to the union and a shoutout to Mr Glover for stepping up on the issue.

[newtothegame]

40. No surprises here; they're a German company and they can make it cheaper in their home country.

Why the outrage? :shrug:

[avaistheone1]

41. Pleased to be recommendation # 100.

No Hugo Boss at Oscars.

:kick:

[Dave From Canada]

42. I'm not surpised they're moving to Europe. Obama has created a hostile environment for business.

However, I'd much rather see them move to Canada. I hope they reconsider. Canada is a much better place to do business than Europe.

[No Elephants]

44. Recommendation 101 and now kicking for American workers. Stand together or fail..

[laylah]

46. KnR...where is everyone! nt

[nimvg]

47. Card Check...

...is already dead. Scott Brown winning Teddy's Senate seat took care of that.

They'll go offshore anyhow. You can't stop it.

[Barbara2423]

48. Thanks Danny, let's stick together

[geardaddy]

49. Kick and Rec'd in solidarity

Thank you Danny for making a stand.

[Peace Patriot]

50. K&R! Good on Danny Glover! Thanks for posting! nt