WXXI: Schumer, Workers Rally for Hickey Freeman Jobs (2009-06-08)

United States Senator Charles Schumer stood with hundreds of cheering workers at the gates of the Hickey Freeman plant in Rochester Monday -- pushing for a guarantee that more than 500 workers will keep their jobs in any deal to sell the company.

Schumer unbuttoned his jacket and showed off the Hickey Freeman label inside as he called for preservation of one of the last American-made clothing labels.

Schumer and the union representing plant workers want a guarantee that the bankruptcy of Hickey Freeman's parent company won't mean job losses in Rochester.

Hickey Freeman is a profitable company. But it's owned by Hartmarx Incorporated, which is going through bankruptcy.

Senator Schumer and other leaders have been pressuring creditors not to seek liquidation of the company -- and for a federal bankruptcy court judge to approve a purchase offer from a British firm called Emerisque. Emerisque has verbally agreed with Schumer and the union to keep Hickey Freeman suit production in Rochester.

Gregory Laskowski is business representative for the Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United, which represents the Hickey Freeman production workers. He's hoping for the best, saying that Hickey Freeman is actually earning a profit for Hartmarx.

Laskowski and Senator Schumer want guarantees written into the Emerisque purchase deal that Hickey Freeman will stay in Rochester.

The Wells Fargo Bank -- Hartmarx's lead creditor -- originally preferred a higher sale price even if it meant liquidating the company.

Senator Schumer says their management has come around under pressure. But the fate of Hickey Freeman won't be decided until June 30th, when the judge has to approve a purchase offer.

Hickey Freeman suits have been made in Rochester for more than a century. It's one of the few places in the United States where people still make men's suits and parts of them are still hand-sewn. It's also the last survivor of what used to be about ten clothing companies in Rochester, and it's brought generations of immigrants from all over the world to work in Rochester.