Posted on 08/23/2009 3:10:52 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Union workers at Mercury Marine put their jobs at risk Sunday when they rejected a package of wage and benefit concessions the boat engine maker said it needed or it would move their work to a nonunion plant in Oklahoma.
Union leaders did not immediately release Sunday's tally but said the vote was "overwhelming" to reject what the company called its final offer.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 1947, represents 850 workers at Mercury Marine, the largest employer in the eastern Wisconsin city of Fond du Lac and the world's largest manufacturer of boat and recreational marine engines.
Mercury Marine issued a statement after the vote saying it will move many of its Fond du Lac manufacturing operations to its facility in Stillwater, Okla., over the next two to three years. The company said it would continue to operate the Fond du Lac facility for now under the terms and conditions of the existing contract, which expires in 2012.
"This has been a very difficult and stressful process for all involved," Mark Schwabero, president of Mercury Marine, said in a statement. "We will work closely with our team in Fond du Lac to develop and communicate a transition plan for this 24-36 month process."
Mercury Marine spokesman Steve Fleming had said last week that if the offer was rejected, the union and company could resume talks and hold another vote this coming Saturday, but its offer would not change.
Local 1947 President Mark Zillges said Friday there would be no further negotiations. He did not immediately return a phone call Sunday seeking comment.
Fond du Lac city manager Thomas Herre called the vote "a huge disappointment."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
OMG...this is so accurate. Living for the day...not thinking about tomorrow. Ants vs. grasshoppers and all that.
They can all thank the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 1947. So for 850 union jobs, a whole town and half the state can be negatively impacted.
I can appreciate folks wanting an honest wage and benefits, but if the choice comes down to having a job, or no job, or having a job with all the bells and whistles, guess I’d take the job and save the bells and whistles for another day.
I’m so fed up with Wisconsin, and we are a beautiful state! I can hardly wait until we move out of here. My hubby is from FDL, and works for Quad, this sucks big time. Soon Quad will see the writing on the wall (like they aren’t affected by newsweek, et al and their lib biases), Quad has plants in WV, NV, OK, luckily, hubby is in a position that’s valuable. The entire FDL community is stunned by this, completely stunned by Merc’s decision to leave. What these union thugs did was not only destroy a city, they affected the entire state. I’m so fed up with Wisconsin, Doyle and the ENTIRE crap that’s WI gov, I’m ready to move to ANYWHERE. I’m happy Merc is leaving. I really think this is our Michigan moment, and it will be hard to recover. Sad, our state is so pretty.
Two surprises in that map: Montana and Iowa.
If you have a choice as between WV, NV, OK when the time comes, I can recommend VW which is also quite beautiful. Almost Heaven, in fact ;)
Couldn’t agree more about WI being beautiful ... spent many the happy vacation at Lake Geneva back in the day. The UP in MI, and MN are also wonderfully scenic, but those states are so left politically, I couldn’t bear to live there. For a while MN seemed to get away from its history but Sen. Franken proved that theroy wrong.
VA is flirting with that now, but even the D’s here play a real conservative game thru the election. I’ll be long gone before it’s solid blue .. and we can all hope that things turn around as people across the country wake up and realize what all the components of the left are doing to this great nation of ours. Then vote the ba$tard$ outta office.
In all likelyhood, they will send Mfg to Oklahoma and set it up with CNC robots. Most likely they will keep design engineering in Fond du Lac. They will all be exempt salaried. The “bargaining unit” will be eliminated.
I hate to say it, but, good riddance.
WI wasn't that radical 20 years ago. And MN, they bought the koolaid, Frankin? It was bad with the wrestler Gov, but Frankin? Anyway, there is hope, there are just a couple counties controlling WI a 'purple state', we just have to get our message out, frankly, it's starting to work, with the townhalls and all.. These townhalls are really providing an outlet.
Isn't it a shame some places have bought the liberal mentality, lock, stock, and barrel? Revolution is brewing with zero's policies. Freedom will win. The tides will turn, and us Americans will never tolerate socialism. The hippies won't live forever. I'm so sick of being labeled a 'baby boomer', when I didn't even know what a rock concert was. I was 9 then. I will not let our country destroyed!
Why would you conclude the rejection of this contract proposal would mean a UAW member would be out of a job???
Remember, the zero, the affirmative action union loving PREZ IS HARD AT WORK DESTROYING BUSINESS AS RAPIDLY AS A SENIOR BUREAUCRAT CAN GET ABOUT IT.
THESE UNION “WORKERS” will soon be on a taxpayer paid vacation and control the company in short order just like their big brother auto UAW.
It is EASY STREET now for this outfit. Shed no tears.
I had a fascinating conversation with a woman this afternoon, a somewhat cynical black woman. She was very upset that SS wasn’t going to be increased, but premiums for Medicare would be. Went on about how promises were made to buy food, cars, homes, etc ... I did NOT pull my hair out.
(btw, am not from WV, from VA)
A distant cousin used to live in Racine, Wisconsin where the American Motors plant was. They had one union steward for every 20 workers (normal proportion was supposed to be 1/200). No wonder AMC went out of business.
Overlap those with the states that went for Bush in 2000/2004.
Wow! Goody for us in Oklahoma. What fools to vote to lose their jobs in the current economy. I starting to think Unions suck the brains of their members.
Make that swiss cheeseheads for ALL of Wisconsin's addled voters.
Leni
“as long as there is no right to work then the unions are protected and capitalism will fail.”
Oklahoma does have right to work, fortunately.
Once again, it's not who votes that counts, but who counts the votes.
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