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 ...
Look for the feds to threaten to pull its ammo contracts if Olin tries to move!
BTW: Previous threads:
It's official: Olin ammo production to Mississippi (Union drives 800 jobs out of Illinois)
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?
union scum losing jobs alert!
The company wanted the union employees concessions to cut managers vacation from six (6!!!) weeks to five (5!!!), and the rest of the IAMAW union members from five (5!!!!) to four (4!!!!)
Holy smokes, our military only gets 30 days a year, AND THEY DESERVE IT!
how long do you think it would be before the union thugged its way in and reunionzed? Ill with its history of thuggery and corruption is union friendly
Obama creates another 1000 jobs. /s
. . . the unions chickens comin’ home to roost .
If the employees have voted to organize in a non-right to work state, you cannot legally do that. You must have cause to fire them and being a union member is NOT cause. You would have to rehire from the union ranks anyway because the employees had voted it in.
Leaving for a right to work state is all the company can do. That is why what manufactoring we have left has been moving to southern states.
Union Made!! Oh well there's always...would you like fries with that.
Let's get this right. All this IN AN AMMUNITION FACTORY? (a) I would not work there while this unfolds, and (b) I would not buy their products made during the next few months.
IN THIS ECONOMY THEY REJECT GIVING UP A WEEK’S VACATION WHEN THEY HAVE 5 WEEKS OFF?????
I have not had more than 2 weeks off per year for 20 years.
I bet they start screaming “OK OK We’ll take the deal...” and I hope the company tells them to stuff it.
I guess I just don’t understand how the process works, but why can’t the company simply fire everyone in the union and hire new workers?
our militart only gets 30 days per year OUT OF 365!
that would be against union regs
I don’t think it will take that long for them to leave...the union thugs will be vandalizing and sabotaging the plant!!
Is the firing for cause a state or federal issue? In other words can you fire people for unionizing in a right to work states?
The union did the same thing at the Nashville Peterbilt plant,kept going out on strike,over and over again
Peterbilt gave the union one last chance,nope said the union
Peterbilt moved to Texas
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