WASHINGTON - To end the on-going labor dispute at Chef Solutions in North Haven, federal, state and local officials from Connecticut yesterday wrote to Questor Fund, the company that acquired Chef Solutions in June. The officials urged Questor to end the labor dispute by allowing company employees to engage in legal union activities.

The officials wrote: “Chef Solutions management has engaged in unfair labor practices and illegal activities fully documented in evidence presented to various government agencies and the courts - activities including sexual harassment charges brought against the company by several of its employees and intimidating its workers in an effort to dissuade them from unionizing. These abuses were also well documented during an open hearing held by CT General Assembly Labor and Public Employees Committee last October.”

The letter was signed by U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, Secretary of the State Susan Bysciewicz, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, State Senator Edith Prague, State Representatives Kevin Ryan, Evelyn Mantilla, Juan Candelaria, and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano. Senator Joseph Lieberman also supports this effort.

“Workers at Chef Solutions should be treated fairly,” said Dodd. “Their concerns should be fully and equitably addressed - not swept under the rug. This letter should indicate a united front when it comes to their welfare.”

“There is strong support at all levels of government in Connecticut to allow Chef Solutions to unionize,” said DeLauro. “I find it disheartening that even though this company has changed ownership, the same illegal activities continue. I urge Questor to take a personal interest in this dispute.”

The full text of the letter follows.

October 25, 2004

Mr. Jay Alix, Vice-Chairman Questor Fund 2000 Town Center, Suite 2450 Southfield, MI 48075

Dear Mr. Alix,

We welcome you as the new parent company to Chef Solutions and wish you every success with the new venture. We are writing to bring to your attention an ongoing labor situation at Chef Solutions in North Haven, Connecticut and to urge you to take a personal interest in resolving it.

Over the past eighteen months, some of us became involved with the past owner of Chef Solutions, Lufthansa, in an effort to resolve an extremely troubling situation at Chef Solutions. We wrote to Lufthansa to ask the company’s CEO to consider a card check procedure and neutrality agreement as the most just remedy. We received a cursory response refusing our request and were referred to its American subsidiary Chef Solutions. We then offered to facilitate a meeting between Chef Solutions and the union, but that offer was refused. Finally, we offered to meet with the company without the union and share our concerns. That offer was also refused.

Chef Solutions management has engaged in unfair labor practices and illegal activities fully documented in evidence presented to various government agencies and the courts - activities including sexual harassment charges brought against the company by several of its employees and intimidating its workers in an effort to dissuade them from unionizing. These abuses were also well documented during an open hearing held by CT General Assembly Labor and Public Employees Committee last October.

We are very troubled by reports that these abuses are continuing even today under your watch. However, we hope you will not intentionally support the anti-union philosophy and the illegal anti-union practices sanctioned by the previous employer. Questor must not abide by the lowest standard allowed under the law.

In order to begin work toward a resolution on this urgent matter, irrespective of whether the NLRB orders a new election, we urge you to enter a dialogue with United Auto Workers (UAW) representatives and listen to their perspective on the situation. We continue to believe that the most simple and just remedy is to require that Chef Solutions adopt a policy of non-interference regarding the wishes of employees to unionize or not, and to commit to a card check election as a means of allowing them to express their will.

We hope that your company will permit the workers to decide for themselves whether they want to join the union. It is crucial that employees are allowed to vote in an atmosphere of openness and without intimidation. The time has come to resolve this situation.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your response.