A battle that is a typical story of corporate greed:

Stella D’oro closed its Bronx bakery a day ahead of schedule Thursday, officially putting its 136 unionized employees out of work.

The plant’s general manager Dan Meyers summoned the workers for a 3 p.m. meeting as the first shift was ending, informed them that the plant was closing and told them they should take any personal possessions before leaving. They responded by singing and chanting “the workers united will never be defeated” in their boss’s face for 10 minutes before exiting the factory, which has operated in the Bronx since 1932.

We told him we were still united and we didn’t regret what we did,” said Gurdip Mann, a machinist who worked at the factory for 21 years.

The closing of the factory follows a bitter labor struggle between the workers and Brynwood Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm that bought Stella D’oro in 2006. The workers, who belong to BCTGM Local 50, went on strike in August 2008 after management demanded steep wage and benefit cuts. They returned to their jobs making and breadsticks in July only to learn the company was being sold and moved to Ohio.