The union representing 1,500 Fingerhut employees has made a number of demands on Federated Department Stores Inc. including restarting catalog distribution as a signal that it is serious about selling the Fingerhut catalog operations over liquidation.
In simultaneous rallies held Wednesday before hundreds of employees at the Tennessee and St. Cloud, MN distribution centers, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) called for Federated to take action in three areas, said Jane Palmbach, the northern district joint board manager for UNITE.
The first was to rescind notices sent last week to thousands of Fingerhut employees giving them 60 days advance notice that the plants they work in would close.
The second demand called for Federated to restart catalog operations and to continue with the schedule of mailing three small catalogs between now and April and to deliver to customers the big spring book the first week of April.
Finally, the union asked that the company return to normal call practices when speaking with customers. Two weeks ago the company made changes to how credit is offered and talked about liquidating the company in conversations with customers, Palmbach said.
“We question Federated keeping Fingerhut viable as an ongoing business when they talk to customers on the phone about liquidation when they call in for orders,” Palmbach said.
Palmbach said that Federated was aware of the demands but would be sent formal, written notification outlining the details on Monday. She said there had been no official response from Federated. Another rally is being planned, but no date has been set.
Officials from Federated and Fingerhut could not be reached last night.
UNITE represents 1,500 Fingerhut employees who work in distribution centers and the returns area. Another 4,500 non-union employees work in customer call centers and in the corporate headquarters in Minnetonka, MN.
Last Monday, a memo sent by Fingerhut CEO Michael Sherman notified employees that “what may be the last Fingerhut catalog” had mailed Jan. 14 and that operations were beginning to wind down.
Four potential buyers have surfaced. They are Minneapolis businessman Paul Ellarby; Peter Lytle, a business turnaround specialist from Wayzata; Tom Petters, owner of Petters Cos. and Redtag Inc., in Eden Prairie; and an unnamed group of New York investors.
Federated announced Jan. 16 that it would shut down the 54-year-old Fingerhut catalog business putting 6,000 people out of work. The company signaled from the start that a buyer was unlikely in this economic climate for a business whose model is built around the sub-prime market.
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