Alden Leeds, Inc., a company that produces swimming pool chemicals in Kearny, NJ, will have to face up to its dirty deeds. Last November, while in contract negotiations with its employees’ union, the company unlawfully locked out 50 workers.

For the record, that’s illegal. And it’s wrong. Instead of bargaining in good faith with its employees, the company chose to leave them out in the cold, without a paycheck, for nearly nine months.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is nothing new for America’s working families. Firing and intimidating pro-union employees are common practice for far too many employers. Adding insult to injury, lawbreaking employers often get away with these crimes, with nary a penalty.  But not this time!

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) intervened and, just this week, a federal judge ordered the company to rehire all 50 workers. Our Executive Director Kimberly Freeman Brown had this to say about the ruling:

The court’s decision is welcome relief to the families of these 50 workers who have been wrongfully denied the right to bargain in good faith for fair wages and benefits by their employer. The swimming pool chemical manufacturer abruptly and shamefully dumped its workforce, retaliating against employees who simply wanted to preserve decent job standards.

We should applaud the NLRB for taking a stand against unscrupulous employers, and bringing us one step closer to an economy that respects workers’ rights. An economy that keeps businesses and working families in the clear.

Read the rest of Kim’s statement here.