[Mo1]

Many workers who had said they were going to vote against the contract said it was a matter of trust. They had stopped believing the company was honest with them, and they had lost faith in their union’s negotiating committee

So basically they just screwed themselves out of a jobs over a cut of $1.50 cut?

[MrNatural]

It really is something right out of Atlas Shrugged; all the workers products of the public school system, believing that the world owes them a 'decent wage'...

[Timesink]

So basically they just screwed themselves out of a jobs over a cut of $1.50 cut?

Yup. To put this into perspective (it's even more pathetic than you think): The average wage at that plant is $16/hr. And Forbes magazine determined that Huntington, West Virginia, is the second-cheapest city in the entire United States in which to live.

[Timesink]

Yesterday's edition of the paper had an article in it about the impact this plant's closing will have on the community. It began with an anecdote about one of the plant's employees getting off his motorcycle to walk into the local hangout for plant employees. The article names the specific make and model of the bike. I just went and looked it up: The bikes cost roughly $13,000 - $15,000 each.

This is the typical employee of Special Metals who "can't handle" a lousy $1.50/hr pay cut.