Catherwood LibraryILR School

After a union campaign to save the factory, management at a Hugo Boss plant in Cleveland, Ohio have agreed to keep the location open. Hugo Boss is a luxury clothing company owned by the UK-based Permira - the company felt the Cleveland plant was no longer globally competitive and had announced plans to shut it down this weekend back in December, costing about 350 jobs. The Workers United union, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, campaigned to keep the plant open, winning support from the Ohio Democrats, and letters of encouragement from several state pension funds. The union and management issued a joint statement Friday morning saying that they had reached a tentative agreement and the Cleveland plant would be remaining operational. A union spokesman called the agreement a great victory, and a company official said Hugo Boss was hopeful the new agreement would restore the company's global competitiveness.