Adan Aguliar

JJ Cassone Bakery Port Chester, N.Y.

Before he was fired, Adan Aguilar worked the ovens at JJ Cassone Bakery for five years.  It was tough work – made downright dangerous by the fact that people were overworked.  Employees worked 12-hour shifts, 72 hours a week.  Pay was poor.  The bosses of the largely immigrant workforce counted on their employees to keep quiet, but it didn’t work out that way. 

In September 1999, the workers started a campaign to organize their more than 200 co-workers at JJ Cassone Bakery.  They formed an internal committee, started talking about the union and asked the government to set a date for the election. 

Almost immediately, the company fought back with threats, harassment and intimidation.  Out of the workers that belonged to the initial union committee, 45 percent were either fired or otherwise disciplined during the union campaign.  Aguilar was fired the day before the election.  In total, five workers were fired for their union activity.

On election day, Aguilar and a co-worker who had also been fired went to the bakery to vote.  The police were called and, directly in front of the voting area, they harassed Aguilar and prevented him from entering the bakery.  The union lost the election by a landslide.

The workers filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board in 1999 and 2000, challenging the firings and the other behaviors of the company that interfered with their freedom to form a union.

Seven years later, the workers at JJ Cassone Bakery are still waiting for justice.  Aguilar doesn’t have his job back—he hasn’t seen a cent of backpay. 

“I understand you have to struggle,” said Aguilar.  “You have to struggle for something good.  But this isn’t just.”