Former workers at Marshall Field’s downtown candy kitchen handed out leaflets outside the State Street store Friday, asking shoppers to sign petitions protesting the retailer’s move to shift Frango mint production to Pennsylvania.
The outsourcing decision was announced late Thursday afternoon with no warning. The move throws out of work 157 employees who are members of Local 1 of the Service Employees International Union.
Meanwhile, officials of Local 1 said they have scheduled a Monday morning negotiating session to discuss severance benefits.
The union still has slim hopes that Field’s may change its mind and decide to expand Frango production locally, said Local 1 representative Virginia Beckett.
“We would like to convince them to stay here,” Beckett said.
Inside Field’s stores, shoppers were briskly buying Frangos Friday, many of them wrongly believing that the candy would no longer be available, said Field’s spokeswoman Lynne Galia.
“It’s important for customers to know they can still buy Frango chocolates at all Field’s stores in the future,” she said. The candy will continue to be produced with the same recipe and packaging by Gertude Hawke Chocolates Inc. of Dunmore, Pa.
Field’s had been producing its trademark candy products on the 13th floor of its State St. store for more than 70 years. It had planned to tell workers they were being let go on Friday.
But after news began to leak out about the shutdown Thursday, the company called candy workers together and told them to clean out their lockers. They were told not to report to work Friday, said Lizzie Lewis, an 18-year veteran of the kitchens and union steward.
The affected candy workers were mostly women. Many were African-American, Hispanic and Asian, she said. The candy workers earned between $6 and $10 an hour and were covered by some health insurance and retirement benefits.
Lewis, 64, was planning to retire soon after almost two decades as a Field’s employee. “I was hoping they would give me a retirement party, shake my hand and tell me I’ve been a good worker,” she said. “I didn’t even attend the meeting I was so upset.”
