...insist on this package and lose your job...
1. $16.00/hr = $33,280/yr, + insurance, benefits, pension, etc.
...or approve new contract...
2. $14.50/hr = $30,160/yr. + insurance, benefits, pension, etc.
...or work at McDonald's (if you can even find a job)
3. $6.50/hr = $11,830/yr (35 hr wk), + no insurance or benefits
So, the dummies chose #3!!??
...many of the emloyees do not believe the company will close its doors; they think it's a bluff...
Yeah, saw that happen right here just this year, putting 650 out of work. They believed the Union, that it was a bluff, and refused to take a pay cut. The business went belly up and was eventually resold. If they're lucky, 100 will eventually get some sort of a lower paying job from the scaled-back restructured company.
Unions don't usually care if the people they represent get thrown out of work and the plant shuts down, as long as the Union doesn't "lose". It gives them more bargaining power on the next negotiation with another company and that's all they care about - their own power!
If employees expect their employer to buy the best raw materials for the cheapest price to make a profit, why would they not also understand the same rules hold true for labor and its cost to the employer. If the employer can make more money by relocating to Mexico, or stop losing money by shutting down an unprofitable plant, why shouldn't it?