Special Metals contract rejected (Union Votes Down Contract, Co. Likely To File Ch 7 Within Days)

The Herald-Dispatch ^ | August 25, 2003 | Jim Ross

[Timesink]

HUNTINGTON -- Workers at the Special Metals Corp. nickel alloy plant in Huntington rejected a proposed contract offer Monday that their union leadership and company executives said was necessary to keep the plant open.

The vote, announced at 8:30 p.m. after a full day of voting, was 236 workers for the new contract and 303 against it.

[PackerBoy]

Employment lawyer here ... this happens a LOT.

Basically, many of the emloyees do not believe the company will close its doors; they think it's a bluff. Others don't care, as they would not mind receivig unemployment compensation and staying home for a while. This vote was closer than many I have seen.

I once closed a business because the Teamsters would not negotiate a wage reduction. The union's bargaining team did not even blink when we announced the closing.

[BudgieRamone]

No doubt it was foolhardy to vote themselves out of a job, however that is something that will have to determined in the future. The possibility of losing jobs is there, and while I don't know the specifics, my guess is that the higher ups in the company saw a "money saving" way to get a bonus for themselves at the expense of the floor workers. The way this works is they plead with the union and beg and whine snivel etc, that they don't have enough money and would the workers please take this important pay cut to save jobs. Meanwhile no one on the board takes a cut, No one in upper management takes a cut, the worker is expected to feel the pain of economic downturn and as soon as this scam for cutting pay by union agreement takes place, that "saved" money goes right into the CEO and his cronies pockets.

Now, I don't like unions nor do I support what they do ( I was a union steward--the whole thing is rife with corruption) But in this case where it is not mentioned whether the "In charge" folks have felt the pain, I think it is rather unfair to slam these workers for making a judgment on what they percieve as the truth.

Also, I must add, what does everyone have against a worker making a high wage for what they do? it seems that every time the union is mentioned, Many folks assume that these guys are slobs who sit around complaining they don't make enough money. That, from my limited experience sounds like a paper pusher attitude. They can't stand the fact that a person makes a good living wage without having to shuffle paper work. True there are folks that seem to be protected by the unions, but if MANAGEMENT knew how to do their jobs, the deadwood could be eliminated.

let the flaming begin. :-P

[elbucko]

The union's bargaining team did not even blink when we announced the closing.

I belive many union thugs think the Feds will come in (sooner or later) and bail them out, somehow.

[SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch]

"deadwood could be eliminated"

539 just have been.

[Timesink]

539 just have been.

More than that. The plant employs several hundred nonunion employees as well.

[Intolerant in NJ]

"You never can tell when they’re telling the truth," he said, referring to the company’s management. "They have lied to us."...bet he'll believe the padlock on the front door of the plant......

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

Sixteen dollars an hour = $33,280 per year. In a really cheap city you can buy a house for that much.

I pine for that ratio. Here in sunny Southern California, that would barely be 5% down on an entry level, 3 bed fixer upper in a nice area. I wonder what the commute is like between LA and West Virginia?

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

The day the plant locks out the erstwhile employees is when in the cold light of morning they will sober up and make most of them begin the beg and puke routine.

We want another chance, we didn't realize it was for real, but I thought they were only bluffing. Please, please, we will take a 1/2 cut in wages.

Stupid fools all. I worked at Reynolds Metals aluminum extrusion plant in Phoenix, AZ about 40 years ago. The great USSW held sway with a iron fist and the things that went on no one outsider would believe. That huge complex which employed 4,500 has since been razed to the ground and is no more.

[Conservababe]

In the early seventies, a glass plant closed because of union demands in Shreveport, Louisiana.

When I moved three years later, a man still walked in front of the factory with a picket sign, everyday.

How sad, I thought, that he could not accept reality.

[SoDak]

Un-freaking-believable. Enjoy unemployment, idiots. Way to look after your families.

[gonzo]

"...United Steelworkers of America..."

"...According to figures provided by the company, its total economic impact in the Tri-State was at least $90 million last year. .."

'Special Olympics' is right.............FRegards

[Buckwheats]

Bet you can get that bike really cheap by next spring.

[Imal]

International operations were not affected by the bankruptcy.

Here's the key sentence I was looking for. If anyone wonders why manufacturing jobs are leaving the U.S., this article lays it all out clearly.

Don't worry about Special Metals, they'll be just fine.

The Chinese will pick up the slack.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Perhaps the workers hate their bosses so much that they are willing to be out of a job on the off-chance cutting a boss's pension.

[KAUAIBOUND]

So several hundred nonunion employees also lose their jobs because of the stupid majority in the union - there sure is nothing like a non-right-to-work state for "protecting" the rights of the worker.

[drlevy88]

And for sending more American business and its associated expertise and know-how, to China. What geniuses voted for this?

[jim_trent]

I have gone through two plant closings myself (as salaried technical management). In each case, the Union had convinced the workers that the Management was lying and the plant would not close. They said that the management kept two sets of books.

One they showed to the Union (which showed a loss) and one that they showed to the higher-ups to get their bonus' (which showed a profit). I remember one of the top Union guys leaving the final meeting with management with a smirk on his face. The plant was closed down a few months later.

Then the Union said that it was only a temporary shutdown to scare everyone. It would be open again in 90 days. After 90 days passed, it became 6 months. Then a year. The plant is still closed and empty 15 years later.

[thinktwice]

Another boarded up company for unemployed union workers to proudly point to whlle telling tourists ... "We struck it shut."

That's exactly what a person told me about a major boarded-up business in the heart of Ketchican, Alaska

[Toirdhealbheach Beucail]

Forgive me for asking a seemingly stupid question, but what benefit does the Union derive from convincing employees to put themselves out of work? If the unions need dues, how does this serve their purpose?

[WI Conservative 4 Bush]

That's a very good question. I don't know a lot about the inner workings of unions, but I do recall hearing statistics that cumulative union membership has been steadily declining for years. Lemmings and all.