Sheryl Leavey owns a printing company in Merriam. In an effort to cut costs, she decided to outsource the bindery department. Seven women lost their jobs.
Leavey says the bindery workers resigned. Her former employees say they were pushed out to make way for a cheaper, more acquiescent work force.
In any case, Leavey has significantly lowered her costs. A Lenexa company called Performance Packaging Group now provides Leavey's Creative Printing with the work it needs. Speaking of her contact with Performance Packaging, Leavey says, "He can do the labor for $11 [an hour], and I was paying these girls a lot more than that."
Keeping a client happy was at the front of Leavey's mind when she made the decision to dispense with the "girls" — including one woman who had worked at Creative Printing for 33 years. Creative Printing's largest client is Hallmark Cards.
Leavey figured that she had two choices: lose the workers in one department or lose the business that her late husband, Frank, started in 1967. She chose to outsource. "I could be competitive with some of the other Hallmark suppliers that are getting labor a lot cheaper than I was paying," she tells me.
The decision to eliminate the bindery department was announced on March 12. Fifteen minutes before their shift ended, the women who worked in the department followed Leavey into the lunchroom.
Leavey explained that she had spoken with her accountant. The outlook was grim. Changes needed to be made.
Leavey said she was willing to keep one employee working full time and another working part time. She was unwilling to decide which two women would get the jobs, however. So, like a prison warden tossing a pool cue into a crowded cell, Leavey asked the bindery workers to choose.
"We had to vote, basically grade each person, because she felt too close to all of us to make the decision herself," says Judy Hansen, the employee with 33 years' experience.
Alice Zuniga, another longtime employee, says she could not bring herself to judge her co-workers and have the results determine who kept their jobs. "I refused to do it," she says.
Leavey went down the line. "Each one just told her no," Zuniga says.
Meeting that response, Leavey told the women to clean out their lockers, Zuniga says.
Whether the lunchroom meeting ended in a mass firing or a walkout is a point of dispute between Creative Printing, a nonunion shop, and the former employees.
"They resigned," Leavey says. "I gave them options to evaluate each other to keep two of them, and they refused to do it."
Zuniga says the word resigned never entered the conversation. Adds Hansen: "Not one of us ladies mentioned the word quit."
Hansen says Leavey offered two weeks of severance pay. It felt like a slap in the face, as did Leavey's level of gratitude. "She could not say thank you for all of the hard work," Hansen says. "That was the hardest."
Because Creative Printing frequently used other companies to help complete orders, Hansen and the others were replaced by women whom they had worked alongside. Performance Packaging was one of the companies that supplied additional help.
Hansen says workers at the bindery began to lose hours to the transient workers in fall 2008. Before then, Hansen and her co-workers regularly received overtime. Then they began to notice that the temps brought in by Performance Packaging were the ones putting in the 12-hour days.
The Performance Packaging crew was made up of women from Central and South America. Zuniga was able to communicate with them. Her father, who had emigrated from Mexico as a teenager, spoke Spanish around the house. "I understood everything they were saying," Zuniga says.
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Wait a minute...is THAT why I can't get those huge jars of Vlasic pickles at WalMart anymore? I was wondering...
Wait a minute...is THAT why I can't get those huge jars of Vlasic pickles at WalMart anymore? I was wondering...
Who cares? People get laid off/fired everyday. Being an employment at will state it dosen't matter, she could fire them all because they were smiling or because they brought pbjs for lunch.
Why the big ruckus? As the owner of the business she is entitledged to make such decision just as she did.
Who cares? People get laid off/fired everyday. Being an employment at will state it dosen't matter, she could fire them all because they were smiling or because they brought pbjs for lunch. Why the big ruckus? As the owner of the business she is entitledged to make such decision just as she did.
This article is typical of the reporting being done by the American media today. Full of half truths and unconfirmed statements. There appears to be no real evidence that the company has hired illegals only hearsay from a former employee. Was the owner really in jeopardy of losing her business? If so she did the right thing, but not very compassionately. The Hallmark name was used in the article title to bait readers. This story did injustice to the owner of the business and the former employees. Shame on you for sensationalizing your article.
This article is typical of the reporting being done by the American media today. Full of half truths and unconfirmed statements. There appears to be no real evidence that the company has hired illegals only hearsay from a former employee. Was the owner really in jeopardy of losing her business? If so she did the right thing, but not very compassionately. The Hallmark name was used in the article title to bait readers. This story did injustice to the owner of the business and the former employees. Shame on you for sensationalizing your article.
What a shocking endightment for the owner of Creative Printing. Unfortunately greed is taking over our world & human values are flying out the window. My heart breaks for these poor people. I firmly believe though that what goes around comes around & you reap what you sow. To do what she did to these unfortunate people, especially the lady that had been working for her for 33 years is an absolute disgrace. She should be ashamed of herself & her shameful greed. She will eventually get her come-uppance, that I know in my heart
What a shocking endightment for the owner of Creative Printing. Unfortunately greed is taking over our world & human values are flying out the window. My heart breaks for these poor people. I firmly believe though that what goes around comes around & you reap what you sow. To do what she did to these unfortunate people, especially the lady that had been working for her for 33 years is an absolute disgrace. She should be ashamed of herself & her shameful greed. She will eventually get her come-uppance, that I know in my heart
I think that was been unfair, for 33 years this woman worked for them and now she is juts laid off with out anything.
http://www.northwestpharmacy.c...
And this is worthy of writing about because????? the work didn't go overseas, so what makes this worth writing about?
I think that was been unfair, for 33 years this woman worked for them and now she is juts laid off with out anything. http://www.northwestpharmacy.com
And this is worthy of writing about because????? the work didn't go overseas, so what makes this worth writing about?
I found the title of this article is trying to be misleading. Reading the title would leave one to believe that Hallmark is sexist for letting 7 women go. But they actual article is about a Women owned contractor that let these women go. David Martin you should be ashamed at trying to mislead the public when your paper is supposed to be about uncovering the truth.
I found the title of this article is trying to be misleading. Reading the title would leave one to believe that Hallmark is sexist for letting 7 women go. But they actual article is about a Women owned contractor that let these women go. David Martin you should be ashamed at trying to mislead the public when your paper is supposed to be about uncovering the truth.
Ms. Judy Hansen, et al... discover the power of Send Out Card's fantastic system by sending a couple of cards with our compliments via: www.RASHCARDS.com ie: F R E E! Then view the OPPORTUNITY VIDEO and Picture Plus link... your experience could become a blessing in disguise! Brandon Ashlock and yours truly are available to assist. Phone: 816 / 415 - USA 1 (8721)
Thanks!
Tom Rash
Field Rep.
tom.rash@att.net
Ms. Judy Hansen, et al... discover the power of Send Out Card's fantastic system by sending a couple of cards with our compliments via: www.RASHCARDS.com ie: F R E E! Then view the OPPORTUNITY VIDEO and Picture Plus link... your experience could become a blessing in disguise! Brandon Ashlock and yours truly are available to assist. Phone: 816 / 415 - USA 1 (8721) Thanks! Tom Rash Field Rep. tom.rash@att.net
well, thats seems to be the american way. the owner of a business, decides to cut costs(labor), by hiring illegal immigrants, instead of americans. this is going on in every type of american business. they trim their costs, and increase their own profits. i was in the construction business, for 20 years. then a crew of illegals approached my builder, and undercut my pay by over 50%. i couldnt afford to pay my AMERICAN workers the same wages anymore, so i quit my company rather than hire ILLEGALS. now, ive lost my house, my credit is ruined, and im unemployed. i will not work for mexican wages. these ILLEGALS must be swept from america, once and for all. and the people who hire ILLEGALS should be sent to jail. there are laws against the hiring of illegals, but the federal government chooses to NOT enforce them. so this type of story WILL continue.
well, thats seems to be the american way. the owner of a business, decides to cut costs(labor), by hiring illegal immigrants, instead of americans. this is going on in every type of american business. they trim their costs, and increase their own profits. i was in the construction business, for 20 years. then a crew of illegals approached my builder, and undercut my pay by over 50%. i couldnt afford to pay my AMERICAN workers the same wages anymore, so i quit my company rather than hire ILLEGALS. now, ive lost my house, my credit is ruined, and im unemployed. i will not work for mexican wages. these ILLEGALS must be swept from america, once and for all. and the people who hire ILLEGALS should be sent to jail. there are laws against the hiring of illegals, but the federal government chooses to NOT enforce them. so this type of story WILL continue.
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