Posted on 11/05/2010 7:37:52 AM PDT by Arcy
A day after union workers rejected for a second time a contract that might have saved their jobs, the Metro East company told them it was moving about 1,000 ammunition production jobs from Metro East to Oxford, Miss.
As members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 9 left the East Alton catering hall where the ballots were tallied Tuesday night, more than a few of the employees ventured that Olin was bluffing.
The company, they maintained, had no intention of following through on its threat to move their jobs. On Wednesday, Olin called their bluff by announcing that it would build a 500,000-square-foot facility when it moves its ammunitions operations.
According to an Olin news release, Mississippi provided "'significant incentives" to entice the manufacturer to expand production near a current Olin plant.
[Workers were offered] a contract that guaranteed seven years of job security in exchange for reductions in vacation time, an elimination of a matching company contribution to retirement plans and other incentives.
Barham [a union worker at the plant] fears the 593-470 vote that split the ranks of the Machinists will carry over to the workplace for the remaining days of ammunition production in East Alton.
"It's going to be a tense situation because everybody is going to be pointing fingers at everybody else," he predicted. "Some people are going to say, 'You cost me my job.' And other people are going to say, 'You didn't stick by your guns.' It is not going to be pretty."
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
these union thugs just keep “representing” these workers out of jobs.....amazing....
What should I say to get them all fired up?
I hope your lot numbers on your ammo says it was mfg before 11/1/2010....guess I'll be buying Federal and Remington (ugh) for the next couple of years.
The IAMAW are some tough folks, I remember when in Fort Worth they struck at the General Dynamics (F16 facility) they were overturning cars, throwing nails in the roadway of the entrance to the plant etc. This was back in the late 80’s and production workers were making 100-150K a YEAR depending on O/T and janitorial folks were making 80K a year or so with O/T. That is ridiculous. And they didn’t really put in an honest 8 for 8 hours pay much less the O/T. But they are MEAN when they don’t get their over sized “fair share” of the bennies.
Yeah, I was surprised to learn that many of the DoD contracts had a clause specifically mandating the manufacture had to happen in East Alton. I'm sure that provision is couched in terms of maintaining quality but you and I know it was really a gift to the union.
They produce Winchester .Great ammo ( esp. when bought at Walmart )
I wouldn’t care if they begged and pleaded, taking even less of an offer I would pack it up and move south and I would die and burn in hell before hiring one of those union idiots.
Right you are, but that's only part of it. If you are on leave over a normal non-work day (a weekend or a holiday) you are charged leave for that time also. In other words, 30 days doesn't equal six 5-day work weeks.
Mississippi is likely a Right to Work state.
And Red Necks don’t put up with pushy union thugs.
Aside from the benefit of no longer being in anti-business Illinoise, why would the company pack up and move instead of firing all the unionists and hiring new workers from the same community?
Also, who would they hire. They would have classified as SCABS by the union, and the union promotes violence against scabs. Any new hires would know they (and their family) would be in danger of union violence.
The only way to get around this is to move the plant to a right to work state. That is what has been happening for decades. It is why the rust belt has been shrinking, and the sun belt has been growing.
Others say: You didn't stick by your guns.
And others say: Ya know, Mississippi sounds like a place I would like relocate to.
Because the Obamaregime's DOJ would sue them for "violating the union workers civil rights" or something like that.
Besides, Tuesday's election guaranteed that the company would be paying alot more in taxes to stay in Illinois, so in the company's mind this is probably a win-win decision. They get rid of their petulant union workers and move to a state where they will pay ALOT less to do business.
With the demand for ammunition being so high combined the the companies lower cost of doing business will probably offset the loss of any government contracts they might have. If they have any with the state of Illinois the loss of those contracts will be a "good thing"-Illinois is not paying any of it's bills.
Mississppi like most southern states is a right to work state.
With all that I am still impressed that Olin was willing to offer the union thugs in East alton Ill a guaranteed 7 more years in exchange for what seems to most of us in the real world small potatoes
Dems would be wise to check out unemployment rates in right to work states versus union states. They won’t
I'm willing to do my part to pick up the slack.
Well, there's 470 guys that probably won't be voting for 0bama in '12.
MS doesn't want ex-union employees! MS employers should issue IQ test and cognitave reasoning to anyone with a yankee accent. Olin union workers made the dumbest decision ever. Look at EA to be just like East St. Louis, MO <1 year.
You give those union drones too much credit. Those idiots will line up by the hundreds to get a glimpse of their "gawd".
LOL - Then I guess these people picked a fine time to be ex-union employees.
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