Posted by Steve Marcus on October 03, 2003 at 14:48:04:
In Reply to: Drang nach dem Osten for UMI? posted by Chuck(G) on October 03, 2003 at 13:19:08:
This article appeared in the Elkhart Truth:
Union rejects Conn-Selmer's offer
Company proposed wage cuts between $3 and $10 an hour
Tue, Sep 30, 2003
By Steve Bibler
Truth Staff
ELKHART -- The rank and file of UAW Local 612 at Selmer's North Main Street plant have literally gone to the wall to show their opposition to management's proposal for wage cuts.
The next move rests with management, which may announce that move later this week.
By a wide margin, the union opposed the offer that was presented during a heated meeting Friday afternoon at the United Labor Agency hall. The company offered a wage proposal that would have cut workers' wages between $3 and $10 an hour, according to union members present at the meeting.
Management also offered severance pay to anyone age 62 or older who elected to leave by Dec. 31, union members said.
Conn-Selmer management maintains the wage cuts are necessary to make the company profitable. It has indicated it wants to close the aging plant and relocate some of the workers to other Conn-Selmer plants in Elkhart.
After the proposal was explained by Bev Green, union president, Larry Banghart, the international representative for Local 612, called for a secret ballot vote. Members opposed that form, so supporters were instructed to stand up and go to one wall, opponents to the opposite wall. Opponents outnumbered supporters by a margin of 10 to 1, according to union sources.
The company's proposal had the backing of all but one member of the bargaining committee, according to union sources. But few others joined them on their side of the wall, they said.
Key Features Of Conn-Selmer Offer
Pay cuts of between $3 and $10 per hour
Most jobs would pay $12 to $13 an hour.
Some assembly and finial finish workers would make between $16 and $17 an hour.
Incentive pay would be replaced with potential incentive bonus.
Severance pay for anyone age 62 or older who retires by Dec. 31.
Health insurance will continue to age 65 at 50 percent of the COBRA rate.
Source: UAW Local 612 rank-and-file members
The meeting was adjourned without further action.
Banghart declined to comment to The Truth about the meeting and deferred to his supervisor, Terry Thurman, the UAW's Region 3 director. Thurman was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, Conn-Selmer officials conferred via conference call Monday morning with executives with the parent company, Steinway Musical Instruments Inc., in Waltham, Mass., to plan their next step.
"Now, we have to go from there,'' said Julie Theriault, director of corporate planning and communications for Steinway. "Maybe by mid-week, more information will be coming.''
"Our goal was to try to keep as many people working as we can. We still have too much capacity,'' said Theriault. "We felt that we had a fair proposal.''
She did not reveal details of the offer, which was hammered out during two weeks of discussions between Conn-Selmer and Local 612.
Theriault clarified that this month's discussions did not constitute a reopening of the entire contract but an example of effect bargaining.
"To make the changes we thought were necessary, we would have to renegotiate certain terms of the contract,'' she said.
Local 612 was told at Friday's meeting that if it didn't approve the wage concessions, the plant's work would be outsourced or sent overseas, union sources said. Several union members have said they believe the plant will be closed and most, if not all, of Local 612 members will lose their jobs by the end of the year.
Contact Steve Bibler at sbibler(AT)etruth.com.