March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hathaway workers approve new 3-year contract

WATERVILLE — Workers at C.F. Hathaway Shirt Co. have approved a three-year contract that includes wage increases, an additional paid holiday and better health care benefits for employees.

It’s the latest chapter in a rebound that started three years ago, when the company was in danger of closing, one union official said.

“This is the best contract any of us have seen,” said chief steward Vicki Gilbert. “It is a credit to all of our hard work in saving this plant from being closed three years ago and working together to improve it.”

The Warnaco Group Inc. announced in 1996 that it would sell its Hathaway division, sparking fears that a buyer would shut down the plant and move production to another country to take advantage of cheaper labor. The group even talked of selling Hathaway’s famous trademark man-with-the-eyepatch advertising icon.

Instead, an investment group led by former Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. came to the rescue, working with city officials, union officers and local legislators to shape a deal to buy the shirtmaker.

Hathaway’s new management redesigned its shirts, lined up private label contracts for Wal-Mart and L.L. Bean, and launched a campaign to strengthen the Hathaway brand.

The company, which produces 1.56 million shirts a year, has contracts worldwide.

Friday’s agreement was made three years to the day of the sale that saved the plant, according to Mike Cavanaugh, secretary and treasurer of UNITE, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.

The new collective bargaining agreement was approved 249-0, he said.

“The company, to their credit, recognized union workers as an asset to be invested in, not a cost to be cut,” he said.

The new owners spent their first year training staff to make the new Hathaway shirts, which were given new dimensions and marketed to female customers, in addition to men.

The company is also stepping up marketing efforts for its new products with advertisements in publications including Fortune, Forbes, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Men’s Health and the New York Times Magazine.

The “Lady Hathaway” line is still in its infancy but is starting to make inroads in the apparel market, according to Donald Sappington, Hathaway’s chief executive officer.

The new contract affects about 330 union members. It includes better insurance benefits for employees with families, lowering the worker’s share of the cost from 61 to 50 percent.

Wage increases put average hourly pay at Hathaway Shirt at more than $10. Also, a holiday has been added to the calendar, and the company agreed to increase its contributions to employee retirement accounts.


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