Savoy

Let's establish something here: I have nothing against unions. Unlike the vast majority of Democrats (especially lefty-leaning bloggers), I have actually been a union member; I have seen both the pluses and minuses of being in a union.

I need also to say for the record that Red's Savoy Pizza in Saint Paul is in the top five for pizza in the Twin Cities. Amazingly yummy stuff, and the best sauce anywhere.

They're a near-East-Side institution, a divey little place on East Seventh Street just off the south approach of the Lafayette Bridge. Now, the East Side is a pretty insular place, in a lot of ways; big market trends take a lot longer to overwhelm the East Side, partly because the locals are pretty loyal to their local merchants, partly because so much of the East Side is so hard to get into and out of, and partly because convenient suburban shopping is still a fairly recent development in the East Metro (until ten years ago, Maplewood was pretty wan, and Woodbury has only become hyperdeveloped in the past 10-15 years).

Still, it has to be hard for a little local chain (there are actually three Savoys) to survive against Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Papa Murphy's, Dominos, Carbones...

...especially when Savoy voluntarily took on a ton of extra expenses - in this case, being unionized.

That has got to get hard to support after a while.

The left-leaning Daily Planet e-newspaper covers on upcoming union boycott of Savoy:

The Savoy, with about 44 employees, has been unionized since at least the early 1970s, the union said. Over the years, employees have come to enjoy benefits rare in the restaurant business, including higher pay, guaranteed pensions and good health care coverage.

"What other pizza place do you know that pays holiday and vacation pay?" asked Goldman.

Most of them - if you're a full-time employee. Which is rare in the chain pizza business, of course; most people don't go into pizza for a career.

The Savoy, located on E. Seventh St. at the edge of downtown St. Paul, has prospered over the decades, thanks in large part to the many unionized state employees who eat lunch there and the patronage of unions across the metro area.

It's true. It could be hard to find a seat at Savoy, sometimes, because one union or another was having its' local meeting in the restaurant. In fact, the place had a rep for bieng a union-guy hangout.

It's not unusual for a union that's holding a meeting or other event to order dozens of pizzas, noted Martin Goff, Local 17's director of organization.

When the most recent contract expired this spring, Local 17 bargained in good faith with management and employees ratified the agreement. But then Savoy balked and refused to sign the contract. A drive was begun among employees to decertify the union. Despite efforts to shore up support among employees,

Let's stop there.

The "Daily Planet" has advertised itself as "Citizen Journalism" , as in "all of the passion and commitment of blogging, within the infrastructure of traditional institutional reporting". So Why did any of this - Savoy's bailing on the deal, the employees petitioning to decertify, and so on - happen?

The story reads like a union press release!

the union recently decided that the best thing to do was to disclaim interest – ending its representation – and launch the boycott.

It's been a frustrating situation, Goldman and Goff said, who noted they believe the workers have "been sold a bill of goods" by Savoy, who brought in a lawyer from a union-busting law firm.

"Sold a bill of goods"? Savoy paid benefits for three decades that only a tiny minority of restaurant employees ever see - and that's a "bill of goods?"

The owner recently instituted a higher cost health plan for the workers and no longer provides any retirement plan.

Right. Just like all the rest of us, including many union employees, got.

Unmentioned; did all of the existing pensions disappear? Why did the employees petition for decertification? Who are these "Union-busting" attorneys, and why did Savoy bring them in after nearly four decades of paying for benefits that you don't find at any other pizza joint in town?

What, in fact, is Red Savoy's side of the story?

You can search the story in vain for that one.

"He's putting the $26,000 he had been making in pension payments per year into his own pocket," said Goff.

Really, Mr. Union Organizer?

We know that...how?

Is it in Savoy's pocket? Or is it in the pockets of his creditors? Or perhaps in the foundation and ovens of a new Red's, assuming Savoy realizes the chain has to grow or die (as may, indeed, be the case)?

We don't know - and the "Daily Planet" apparently deem it worth us knowing.

Posted by Mitch at October 2, 2006 05:17 AM | TrackBack