Union Members Win Hour and Wage Guarantees in Face of Store Closing

In April, Brooks Brothers publicly announced plans to close its 5th Avenue store at the end of this year. Although the 5th Avenue store has always performed extremely well, company executives have decided to instead focus on revamping the Madison Avenue location as the company’s single Manhattan flagship. Brooks Brothers will also focus on continuing to expand through smaller satellite stores, such as the recently-opened Broadway and 65th Street store.

Through a series of five meetings with Brooks Brothers, Local 340 and Local 25 have been able to negotiate a signed agreement that guarantees the jobs, hours and wages of both selling and non-selling employees, including tailors. According to the agreement, employees from the 5th Avenue store will transfer to the various other Manhattan locations (Madison Avenue, Broadway at 65th, and Liberty Plaza) in January 2009. They will then continue to work under the guarantee that throughout 2009, their earnings and hours will remain at least equal with those of the previous fiscal year.

Congratulations to the following members whose dedication made this agreement happen:

5th Ave Location: Michael McGonagle, Tamara Desrosiers, Fransisco Santos, Sal Rodriguez, Usha Laltoo, Wayne Babb

Madison Avenue Location: Anibal Jesus, Ted Connor, Dana Newman, David Aguila, Celik Thompson, Ana Delgado

Liberty Plaza Location: Kenneth Savage

Broadway at 65th Location: Charles Odette