From: Trina Tocco (talkalot83@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 27 2002 - 00:28:39 EDT
I'm most know about this already but just in case...
More info will be coming as things get figured out.
Striking workers reject contract at New Era
>
>By MATT GLYNN
>News Business Reporter
>6/25/2002
>
>
>Union workers at New Era Cap Co.'s Derby plant on Monday rejected a
>proposed contract, more than 11 months into their strike.
>
>The workers turned down the four-year contract by a vote of 99-73.
>
> Jane Howald, president of Communications Workers of America Local
>14177, said she was disappointed with the outcome, particularly since
>the union leadership had recommended the contract.
>
>The union has scheduled a meeting with the company for Friday, she said.
>"We're going to take this one step at a time."
>
>An end to the lengthy labor dispute appeared in sight when New Era and
>the union reached a tentative agreement early this month that called for
>a 4 percent increase in base wages. The union stopped picketing the day
>after the agreement was reached.
>
>Howald said she was "shocked" that as many as 99 workers had voted
>against the contract. "I don't know why these people voted this down. I
>guess that's what I need to find out," she said.
>
>Howald said she was "shocked" that as many as 99 workers had voted
>against the contract. "I don't know why these people voted this down. I
>guess that's what I need to find out," she said.
>
>New Era officials, in a statement, also expressed disappointment with
>the results.
>
>"This agreement was unanimously recommended to the union members by the
>CWA's bargaining committee," company officials said. "Throughout the
>negotiation process, New Era continued to work with the union to reach
>an equitable and fair agreement."
>
>"It is unfortunate that all this hard work and cooperation has not been
>enough to produce a final contract," the company said.
>
>Some workers who voted "no" cited reasons including uncertainty over how
>much money they would make under the new deal.
>
>"It's a slap in the face," said Mary Estarfaa, who has worked at the
>plant for 13 years. "It's worse than what we walked out on. We're going
>in there blind to our wages."
>
>The strike began on July 16, 2001, after New Era implemented new
>production quotas. The union calculated that the new quotas would have
>cut $3 from the average worker's earnings of $12 per hour.
>
>About 220 workers joined the strike, while 80 others crossed the line.
>Another 30 workers were out due to disability or injury. The workers'
>previous contract expired in December 2000.
>
>New Era makes caps for major league baseball teams and their fans, as
>well as other professional and collegiate sports. The company has
>contended that some workers could actually make more money under the new
>standards, and that the plant needed to raise its level of productivity
>to be competitive.
>
>The tentative deal reached earlier this month called for base production
>rates to go to $9.50 per hour, with a 10-cent increase in each year of
>the contract. But workers would have to meet a production quota to earn
>the base rate. "I don't know what I'm going back in making (in wages),"
>said Michele Frame, a New Era employee for nearly nine years.
>
>As part of the tentative deal, the company and union had agreed to
>jointly pay a Pittsburgh consulting firm, H.B. Maynard and Co., to
>conduct a study of production quotas that would have created a new
>system.
>
>Other workers who voted "no" mentioned factors such as non-union hires
>who were brought in after the strike began remaining in the plant, and
>the prospect of many workers not immediately returning to their jobs.
>
>Had the contract been approved, the workers would have begun to return
>on July 1. But about 27 of the workers who were employed when the strike
>began and then walked out would have been laid off for up to 12 weeks,
>Howald said.
>
>Union officials said those 27 would have been temporarily laid off due
>to several factors, including a staggered timetable for bringing back
>workers, the company's removal of some machines at the plant, and
>buyouts taken by other workers.
>
>The CWA International union had agreed to pay strike benefits to those
>27 workers for up to 12 weeks - or less, if they were called back to
>their jobs sooner. After those 12 weeks, the workers could have invoked
>their seniority and go back to work, union officials said.
>
>Union leaders said they were worried that some workers might have voted
>against the contract before finding out about the benefits the CWA
>International would provide, since that news didn't come until Monday
>morning.
>
>One worker who didn't want her name said she voted in favor of the
>contract despite some reservations. She said that after 11 months on
>strike, she was ready to go back to work.
>
>The rejection of the contract makes it unclear how long the strike might
>continue.
>
>The labor dispute has caused divisions within Derby, about 20 miles
>south of Buffalo. Union officials noted that there are two sisters who
>haven't spoken to each other in 11 months: one crossed the picket line
>and the other didn't. Meanwhile, some of the striking workers decided
>not to wait for a contract settlement and have moved on to other jobs or
>careers.
>
>The labor dispute has also drawn attention from far beyond the southern
>Erie County community. U.S. senators, national labor rights group and an
>AFL-CIO boycott all added to the pressure to reach the tentative
>agreement.
>
>New Era also has plants in Buffalo and Alabama. Neither of those sites
>is involved in the Derby labor dispute
Trina Tocco
WMU Peace Center
2101 Wilbur
Kalamazoo, MI 49006
616-344-4076
cell 616-873-1000
home 616-343-6054
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Free $5 Love Reading
Risk Free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/3PCXaC/PfREAA/Ey.GAA/9rHolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
newera_usas-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:33 EST