Four hours after beginning the process for negotiating a new union contract with their employer, members of UE Local 155 at Chasen Fiber Technologies were notified that their parent company, Integreon Global, intended to shut down their plant on November 1.

A New Jersey law requires that companies pay severance when they shut down a plant, but the Chasen facility’s small size exempts it from the law. Integreon attempted to take advantage of that loophole to avoid providing any severance to its workers.

Local 155 members organized actions in the plant on October 31 and November 1 after receiving word that the plant would shut down. The union also set up an online letter-writing campaign which resulted in hundreds of letters being sent to Chasen and Integreon managers by supporters across the country.

The members won two weeks of pay and two months of healthcare bonus for all active employees as of the closure. They also won an agreement for the company to provide employment verification letters, neutral reference checks, and timely responses to unemployment inquiries. The agreement also guarantees recall rights and recognition of the local should operations restart.

The agreement was negotiated by Vice President and Shop Chief Steward Carlos Quinones, assisted by Field Organizer Eric Cortés-Kopp.