JUNE 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 33
TATE’S BAKE SHOP
WORKERS
REJECT UNION BID
Tate›s Bake Shop in East Moriches. (Photo by Barbara Lassen)
Tate’s Bake Shop workers have voted
down a bid to unionize the Southampton
based cookie company after some
workers and labor leaders accused
management of trying to intimidate
immigrant staffers with deportation
threats.
The National Labor Relations Board
found on May 13 that 354 of Tate’s East
Moriches-based factory workers voted
against joining Amalgamated Local 298
AFL-CIO, a Valley Stream-based union
that represents workers in manufacturing,
retail, healthcare, and other
industries. Twelve voted to join the
union and 37 ballots were contested.
“We are very pleased with the outcome
and the results are a testament to our
long track record of providing good
jobs with competitive pay and benefits,”
a spokesman for Tate’s said in a statement.
“We are proud that our employees
have made it clear that they want
to continue their direct and positive
engagement with Tate’s management.”
The union is challenging the results.
“The Eastern States Joint Board has filed
an injunction against the results of the
vote with the National Labor Relations
Board,” Cosmo Lubrano, Vice President,
Eastern States Joint Board, said in a
statement. “There is mounting evidence
to suggest that the integrity of the vote
was compromised by possible voter
intimidation and interference by Tate’s
during the voting period. The alleged
illegal and irregular behavior by Tate’s
during this vote has been the subject of
a Congressional inquiry.
“Our union will continue to fight for a
fair workplace for Tate’s employees and
believe that these results do not reflect
the true intentions of this workforce,”
the statement continued. “This is not a
certified election, and will not be final
until our many objections and complaints
are investigated by the National
Labor Relations Board.”
Tate’s was founded by Kathleen King,
who got her start selling the popular
homemade cookies at an East End
farm stand in the 1970s. King sold the
company for $500 million in 2018 to
Illinois-based Mondelēz International,
Inc., the parent company of Oreo,
Nabisco, Ritz and other snacks, which
reported $27 billion in revenue last
year.
Some workers who were concerned
about conditions at the East Moriches
based factory during the coronavirus
pandemic reached out to the union,
which initiated a campaign to unionize.
During the campaign, some workers
alleged that management told staffers
that if they unionize, their immigration
status would be reviewed, potentially
resulting in deportation. The company
denied the allegations.
“For more than 20 years, Tate’s Bake
Shop has been committed to fostering
an inclusive, supportive and caring
workplace for everyone in our Tate’s
family,” the company said. “We know
that as popular as our brand is, the
true ingredient for Tate’s success has
less to do with what’s inside the cookie
bag than who is creating those delicious
treats.”
Union officials did not return a call for
comment.
-TB
What’s on Your
Infrastructure Wish List?
ExEcutivE DirEctor-Marc HErbst
Long isLanD contractors’
association
Today, we have a President
in Joe Biden who is invested
in leading the charge to implement
a public infrastructure
program. We also have Governor
Cuomo, who has continued
to prioritize infrastructure as
a way to build back New York.
The trillion dollar question on
my mind; what projects should
Long Islanders pinpoint for our
region?
Make no mistake about it,
our leaders are indeed highlighting
needs. Nassau County
Executive Laura Curran and
Suffolk County Executive Bellone
Steve Bellone have worked
collaboratively with regional
stakeholders in creating a
joint-ask to our congressional
delegation; Nassau’s list has
27 projects with a $2.08B price
tag and on the Suffolk side is
$3.4B for 31 projects. Our four
congressional representatives,
also have their own asks. With
expected “community project
funding,” Representatives
Andrew Garbarino, Kathleen
Rice, Tom Suozzi, and Lee Zeldin
have put together a plan to
use this funding source to support
28 proposals amounting to
$47.4M.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Majority
Leader Charles Schumer
is now championing a robust
infrastructure program. He is
rightfully highlighting specific
projects needed in his home
state. The examples Schumer
includes are the Gateway railway
project connecting New
Jersey to Manhattan, the widening
and reconstruction of
the Southern Tier’s Route 17,
and the long-awaited I-81 connection
in Syracuse.
While it’s great that money
will be put aside for infrastructure,
and there are a variety of
ways to spend it, the priority
projects on Long Island need to
be made clear.
We are fortunate the Long
Island Regional Economic Development
Council and the
Long Island Planning Council
collectively recognized infrastructure
projects that would
help in “Reimaging Long Island.”
These big six are truly
transformative and easily identifiable.
Here is our “wish list”:
• Construction of a new LIRR
station at Brookhaven National
Laboratories
• Electrify the Long Island
Rail Road’s Port Jefferson
Branch
• Accelerate the reconstruction
of Route 347
• Begin an Environmental
Impact Study to fix the Oakdale
Merge on Route 27
• Advance the Sagtikos/
Sunken Meadow Parkway capacity
expansion project
• Address the Meadowbrook/
Southern State Parkway interchange
traffic flow.
Our overarching generalized
infrastructure funding
requests have hurt Long Island
before. Back in 2009, when the
state legislature was adopting
a new long-term transportation
capital program, a long-standing
funding formula based on
highway miles (Suffolk and
Nassau rank first and third respectively
among all counties)
and registered vehicles (both
Nassau and Suffolk are the
only counties with more than
one million cars each) was
abandoned. Instead, funding
was designated first to “projects
of regional significance.”
That adopted list didn’t include
one project on Long Island. We
can’t make that mistake again.
These are projects that
would be groundbreaking for
the region. It’s great that we
are talking about infrastructure
investments; now let’s coalesce
and make sure we get it
right.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
