Workers file NRLB action

Workers at Power-One International have filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that a manager at the company's Allston plant threatened to fire them and eliminate their severance pay if they continued to complain about their packages.

The charge, filed last month, alleges workers were threatened with arrest or dismissal and told they would lose all severance and unemployment insurance if they persisted in protesting. 

An NLRB spokesman declined to comment because the matter is under investigation. A hearing date is expected later this month. The company denied it threatened or treated workers unfairly.

Power-One - one of the largest makers of power supply equipment - announced plans in May to move jobs to Mexico and China. The 200 jobs being eliminated are in the plant; 100 technical and professional staff will be transferred to another facility in Massachusetts.

Gary Kenefick, director of human resources at the plant, said the company has a long history of equitable treatment. He added that in most cases nonunion, low wage assembly or factory workers receive nothing when layoffs occur. He acknowledged that some workers would be compensated differently, but declined to discuss the severance packages. 

There are no provisions under state or federal laws requiring that companies pay severance or that they give each worker the same package when one is offered, employment specialists say. 

"There are about 200 people who will lose their jobs either in the summer or the fall," said Kenefick, "We did go through a pretty comprehensive selection process, and there are about 50 who have wider skills such as production knowledge, testing, or visual inspection. They will be asked to stay and help with the shutdown." 

Yesterday about 150 workers protested outside the Power-One plant and carried signs demanding fair treatment as supporters from the Chinese Progressive Association, the Mass. AFL-CIO, and other groups joined them. "This is a situation where management has decided that the second group of workers is better and has told the first group it will get nothing if it creates problems," said Lydia Lowe, an organizer with the Chinese Progressive Association. 

She said workers are seeking a meeting with Power-One managers today. Seventy employees slated for layoff have formed an ad hoc - and temporary - bargaining group to negotiate the terms of their July 9 layoff from the firm. 

In recent years, concerns about working conditions have prompted workers at Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon.com to create associations or bargaining units for negotiating purposes. 

Tom Jurasec, director of the labor center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said more nonunion and low-wage workers are forming bargaining units in the wake of layoffs and changes in the workplace stemming from mergers, reorganizations, and cutbacks. 

"In the case of a plant closure or a shutdown, the only real security people have now is a collective bargaining agreement," said Juravich. "Workers know that that agreement is, essentially, the levee against a major flood. A union cannot prevent a closure,  but people understand that it can help them get severance pay and negotiate the terms of closures in a way that is fair."

Hama Chiu considered herself a valued employee of Power-One, which in 1999 bought the Linden Street plant where high-density board mounted converters are made. 

"I've been there 16 years and I will get only four weeks severance pay and no bonus, but some who have worked a little more than a year will, get a bonus and four months severance pay," said Chiu, who earns $10 per hour. 

At Power-One, those laid off in July will get two to four weeks in severance pay. Those let go in the fall will get up to four months severance with bonuses, according to Cyndi Mark, an attorney from Greater Boston Legal Services who represents the workers.

Kenefick said the company plans to offer outplacement services. The state's rapid response team will also speak to workers about job training opportunities and other jobs.