Lehigh Valley garment workers end strike
The Associated Press
Centre Daily Times, PA
EASTON, Pa. —
About 500 striking garment workers from three Northampton County manufacturers returned to work Thursday after reaching a three-year deal.
Members of the Unite Here union voted 313-95 on Wednesday to approve the contract, ending the Lehigh Valley garment industry’s largest strike in some 50 years. The walkout lasted six days.
The new contract provides a $500 bonus in the first year and 2 percent pay raises in 2014 and 2014, and requires workers to contribute more toward their health insurance
The companies are A&H Sportswear Inc., based in Pen Argyl; International Women’s Apparel of Forks Township, a division of Chicago clothing maker Hartmarx; and Universal Sportswear, a division of Windjammer in Bangor, which makes sports apparel.
The Lehigh Valley’s garment industry rose after World War II as factories pulled out of New York City, but went into decline as many garment jobs moved overseas. The region had about 2,000 working in cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing jobs in 2014, down 18 percent from 2002, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.
