Rising from the Ashes

When Malden Mills burned to the ground, Aaron Feuerstein stood behind what he'd always said: that his employees are his best asset.

"What I did was not heroic," Aaron Feuerstein told the packed Convention hall. But thousands of AFSCME delegates rose to applaud him anyway.

When his factory-Malden Mills, in Lawrence, Mass.-burned down just before Christmas last year, Feuerstein kept his workers on the payroll-with full benefits-while it was rebuilt.

"What I did was merely the decent thing to do," Feuerstein insisted. He said that his deed became national news only because of the recent wave of "immorality" among corporations.

Local 298 Pres. Brian Mitchell of Manchester, N.H., applauded Feuerstein's actions, saying, "The country needs more people like him. ... I truly think that he is a hero."

Union boss. Feuerstein said he has three responsibilities: to the long-term shareholder, to the community and to the worker.

"The worker is not just a cuttable expense, a pair of hands," Feuerstein said. "I consider the employees the most valuable asset Malden Mills has."

Malden Mills was founded by Feuerstein's grandfather in 1906. Over the years, the family's interpretation of Jewish teachings has guided their relationship with their workers.

"We have never interfered with their right to bargain collectively," said Feuerstein, whose employees are UNITE! members. "We try not to be pushovers [at the bargaining table. But we do not forget that] we have a responsibility to do whatever we do fairly and justly."

By Alison S. Lebwohl