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Thursday, July 24,  2003

Snap-On To Close Two Midwest Plants
The heartland communities of Mt. Carmel, IL and Kenosha, WI, are reeling from the announcement that Snap-On Tools plans to close assembly plants in each town, eliminating 560 jobs by early next year. The move will devastate local economies and affect hundreds of IAM members at both locations.

“We will do everything in our power to reverse this decision,” said IP Buffenbarger. “If we need to be creative, we’ll be creative. If we need to dig in and fight, we can do that too. These members and these jobs are worth fighting for.”

The company claims “customer and competitive conditions” for their decision to close the plants and move production to facilities in Milwaukee, WI and Johnson City, TN.

The closure will be especially difficult for workers in Mt. Carmel, where Snap-On has been a major employer since 1937. With a population of 7,982 and unemployment levels surpassing 9 percent, jobs with comparable pay and benefits are practically non-existent.

Just as the closure of Maytag’s Galesburg, IL refrigerator plant will impact non-factory jobs in the surrounding community, the ripple effect of lost jobs in and around Mt. Carmel and Kenosha will be significant. Economists calculate that 4 jobs will vanish for every manufacturing job lost or eliminated.
 

Pension Bill Fracas Scorches GOP
A ham-handed legislative tactic backfired on House Republicans and sparked a firestorm of criticism after a GOP committee chairman unleashed Capitol Hill police officers on recalcitrant Democrats who stormed out of a pension bill markup session.

Democrats complained they had been given little time to read the bill; before Rep. Bill Thomas, R-CA, who chairs the committee, demanded an immediate vote. The Democrats walked out and met in a nearby room to discuss the matter. That’s when Thomas summoned police and called for their eviction. Police officers tactfully declined to oust the Democrats.

Thomas later apologized for his behavior, but not before Democrats reaped a public relations bonanza. Even some GOP stalwarts blanched at Thomas’s iron-fisted tactics and launched some withering criticisms at their wayward colleague. “What has happened to the Democrats is shameful,” said Rep. Ray LeHood, R-IL. “ It’s embarrassing to our party. I am sad for our party and I am sad for the House.”

Others had even stronger words for the affair: “They (Republicans) have had control for 10 years. They’ve gotten arrogant, they demean the institution, they demean democracy by virtue of the heavy-handed way they run the House, minority rights are downtrodden, and it’s time, Mr. and Mrs. America, to make a change,” declared former GOP House leader Dick Armey in a blistering article in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
 

Tentative Agreement at Waukesha Engine
Members of IAM Local 1377 in Waukesha, Wisconsin will vote July 25 on a tentative agreement with Waukesha Engine that could end the 82-day strike that began on May 2.

The accord with Waukesha, a unit of Dresser Inc., was reached following meetings called by the union after members rejected earlier offers by the company.

Issues leading to the strike included a two-tier wage structure, seniority protection and retiree health insurance. The strike at the profitable company is the first since 1979.

Full details of the tentative agreement will be presented to members before the vote.
 

GAO Study Supports Airline Labor Law
A study of airline industry trends by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) found existing labor laws produced agreements without strikes or other disruptions in nearly all cases during the past 25 years. The study, requested by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, found the number of strikes declined significantly since 1978 while the average length of contract talks increased from 9 to 15 months since 1990.

The study also cited Southwest and Continental as examples where a positive relationship between labor and management further reduced the length of time required to produce ratified agreements.

The IAM assisted GAO investigators in the preparation of the report and emphasized trust and communication between the parties as key ingredients to successful negotiations. “Current law requires good faith bargaining by both sides,” said GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “If the law has a shortcoming to be corrected, it is the inability of National Mediation Board to expedite the process when deliberate stalling tactics are employed by management.” The GAO report noted that during the industry’s peak economic period in the mid to late 1990s, some airlines’ management tried to further improve their profits by prolonging negotiations.

Full text of the GAO Report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03652.pdf
 

House Conferees Set for Defense Transformation Act
Leaders in the House of Representatives have named 27 House members to the joint House-Senate conference committee that will craft the final version of a Defense Authorization bill that now contains the “Defense Transformation Act.” This Act, proposed by the Bush Administration, will harm more than 600,000 federal workers at the Department of Defense.

If you live in a district or state that has a Senator or Representative on the joint committee, please contact them immediately and urge them to strip out the “Defense Transformation Act” from the final Defense Authorization Bill.

For a full list of the House and Senate conferees, click here: http://www.goiam.org/territories.asp?c=4589
 

Time Study Class Offered
An excellent three-day class on Time Study will be taught Sept. 29-Oct. 2 by the University of Wisconsin, reports Jim Leslie, Winpisinger Center director. The class provides a working knowledge of various systems used to establish day-work and incentive production standards. It covers theories, assumptions and applications of stopwatch time study, he explained.

“From time to time we get inquiries about this topic,” Leslie said. “This is an excellent class taught by the well-respected staff at the university’s School for Workers.”  The goal is to provide participants with with a working knowledge of work measurements and an understanding of how related problems can be successfully addressed in the collective bargaining process.

Registration deadline is Aug. 29. For additional information about enrollment, travel and facilities, contact Carol Graham: 608-262-4496 or email www.carl.graham@uwex.edu.

 


The Summer 2003 IAM Journal is now online. Skyrocketing health care costs are causing Premium Shock for members and employers. The IAM Journal looks at what's causing the increases and what can be done to change America's health care system.


See who works for you, how the IAM is structured, and what services the IAM offers. Go to: IAM profiles for 2003.


The 108th Congressional Directory . . . get your copy. Send $5 to the MNPL Education Fund, c/o IAMAW, 9000 Machinists Place, Upper Marlboro, MD, 20772.


The official site for the 36th Grand Lodge Convention to be held in 2004 in Cincinnati, Ohio is now online. Check it our for convention news, sponsorship offers, and convention gear.