Posted on 11/26/2019 1:44:46 AM PST by LibWhacker
Bumble Bee Foodswhich along with StarKist and Chicken of the Sea is one of America's largest canned tuna brandsfiled for bankruptcy on Thursday and plans to sell its business to the Taiwanese seafood company FCF Fishery. The sale should conclude what has been a wild ride for Bumble Bee since 2015 when a previous sale attempt revealed a massive price-fixing scheme across the entire U.S. tuna industry. But for consumers, store shelves should remain normal despite all the chaos behind the scenes.
Though the Department of Justice had long appeared concerned about price fixing in the canned tuna market, things took a major turn four years ago when Thai Union, owners of Chicken of the Sea, attempted to buyout Bumble Bee to propel its market share past industry leader StarKist, which is owned by South Korea's Dongwon Industries. Chicken of the Sea eventually flipped, working with the feds to avoid prosecution, and from there, Bumble Bee pled guilty in 2017 followed by StarKist a year later.
The writing was on the wall for Bumble Bee at that point: Already looking to sell, the company was now further saddled by a $25 million fine from the DOJ and a litany of additional civil lawsuits, not to mention that their now former-CEO was indicted in the scandal. It all resulting in "spending tens of millions of dollars in defense costs" on top of the fine, according to bankruptcy documents cited by CNN Business.
And yet, despite these moves, Bumble Bee as a brand will still be at your local grocer. "It's been a challenging time for our company but today's actions allow us to move forward with minimal disruption to our day-to-day operations," Bumble Bee president and CEO Jan Tharp was quoted as saying. "Employees will get paid, our customer partners can count on us to continue delivering outstanding brands and services, and vendors will be paid in the ordinary course of business."
If that sounds a bit fishy (pardon my pun), it helps to understand exactly who the bankruptcy filing will affect. According to Fast Company, the creditors with the largest unsecured debt claims are FCFwhich will be acquiring the companyand the U.S. Department of Justice, which is still owed $17 million from the 2017 fine. The seafood industry site Undercurrent News reports that, as part of the buyout deal, FCF has agreed to make sure the government gets the rest of its money, theoretically putting an end to that drama. However, civil plaintiffs will reportedly be left out in the coldwhich is clearly good for business but not good for non-government groups looking to get paid back for all that price-fixing.
"The initial proposal favors insiders, including FCF, which is a part-owner in Bumble Bee, the stalking horse bidder, and a creditor that is seeking preference for payment of its bills," Christopher Lebsock of Hausfeld, the law firm representing distributors in the civil lawsuits, told Undercurrent. "We intend to be active participants in the bankruptcy process.
“Ah, beautiful South Naknek! Population 79.”
Yes, indeed.
“...he claimed the cannery worked its employees 16 hours a day, six, seven days a week for ten cents a day...”
It was an interesting setting/experience.
I mentioned the company Castle and Cooke (misspelled it in my prior post) — it owned BBS, Dole Pineapple and others.
The cannery was managed during the off season out of Astoria, OR. It was a place I applied to multiple years to work for but never got hired. I knew the office manager as her son and I were linked through Boy Scouts and I was always close with her.
One year She called me and mentioned that one of the crew shipping to Alaska in two days just broke his thumb and could I take his place. “Sure!”
The cannery was staffed by certain groups (all labor was ILWB unless otherwise noted - yes, that makes me a Longshoreman):
Pilipino men who did the majority of the DIRECT fish butchering (yes there were/are machines for that but they cleaned up lots that would have been waste) and the women worked on the canning line.
Machinists (Union) that handled the canning machines and the big diesel generators (electricity), Pipe Fitters (Union) that made sure the steam pipes/lines were working.
Cooks and servers for the food.
Housekeepers and laundry staff keeping the bunk rooms clean (we changed our sheets).
Carpenters for the myriad duties needed.
Cannery staff from several places:
Pilipinos and assorted whites from the ILWB main office outside Seattle, and a small, select group of my group - young men and women who’s parents usually had some direct connection to the Castle and Cooke BOD or the Executive branch or some good folks with a connection to the Astoria, OR office.
We worked for $6.75 an hour with a union contract guarantee of 6 days a week, OT after 40, double OT after 80, triple OT after 120. The 4th of July was 100% OT.
You HAD to clock out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the cannery HAD to be cleaned and sanitized every day so you did get some sleep.
After a few years a person was trusted with more responsibility and my longest work week - 100% on the clock - was 121 1/2 hours - typical folks worked 70 hours or so perhaps up to 85 in a big week.
Lots of fun with especially when shifts slowed down we would walk to town, S. Naknek and buy beer to drink on the beach.
I met some really good folks there and several whom I still keep in touch with.
Jack London would have fit in well with the other ‘worker’ group at the Cannery - the ‘union boys’ who were always stirring the pot of dissension...
We eat tuna at least twice a month. I’m thinking I’ll have to go out off Baja California and catch some tuna and albacore myself. We have room in the freezer for a goodly amount, and I’m sure we could figure out how to can a bunch of it too.
Tuna should be 20 cents a can they fixed it at $1.59. Amazing they got away with it.
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