More: Why Unions Often Create Problems

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Rogue:
Working for non-Unionized companies all my life, never have I had any one pay for 100% of my health care costs. I'm happy with paying 20%, even 35% at one point. These guys want 100% paid and they're willing to give up their jobs for it. :headscratch:

Constellium stands firm in face of strike
Bloomberg, 08.17.2012

Constellium continues to stand by its final contract offer to striking workers even as its Ravenswood, W.Va., aluminum rolling mill concludes its second week of limited operations. “We’ve put a generous offer on the table, but the union negotiating committee has turned its back on it,” chief executive officer Kyle Lorentzen said in a statement Friday. Constellium’s offer, which was put forward Aug. 1, asks employees to begin sharing in the cost of their health care beginning in 2014. “The fact remains that we must address our runaway health-care costs if we’re going to bring financial stability to the facility, period,” Lorentzen said. Meanwhile, the company said “picket line misconduct” and “picket line violence” has continued, leading to the arrest of some employees. Additionally, some “unsubstantiated rumors” about the company and its customer contracts have been circulating throughout the strike, Lorentzen said. “Earlier this week, it was rumors about our customers and our customer contracts that simply are not true. There’s just so much bad information out there,” he said. Nearly 700 employees went on strike Aug. 5 after the United Steelworkers union Local 5668 rejected the offer (amm.com, Aug. 6). Constellium has been operating the facility at a limited rate with some 300 salaried employees since then (amm.com, Aug. 10). The downstream aluminum producer said it wants to reduce its health-care costs at Ravenswood, which it estimates are about two-and-a-half times that of the national average. “We have made it clear to the union negotiating committee that we must address the health-care issue and the uncertainty facing the company with rising health-care costs,” Jerry Carter, Constellium’s vice president of human resources and chief negotiator, said in a statement Friday. Union officials did not respond to requests for comment. Workers and their families are now having to manage without their paychecks and – at month-end – their health-care benefits, according to Constellium. (Full Text)

Cricket1:
Yeah it's sad that in the end it will be the families that take the brunt of the fall. Oh the union might get a victory, but it will be a pyrrhic one. :facepalm:

stew71:
And at some point down the road, the company may decide it's better to move its operations overseas or over the border to avoid more fights with a union unwilling to compromise.

If I were an executive there, I know I'd have to at least consider it from a purely business aspect.

Oh and this thread will be going PO in about 10 seconds....

xsrider:
Quote from: stew71 on August 17, 2012, 03:05:11 PM

Oh and this thread will be going PO in about 10 seconds....

It's been an hour. I'm surprised this thread hasn't been moved to PO yet.

I have never had a union job. But right now, I'm just glad to be employed and glad to have health insurance, even if I have to pay for a good part of the insurance costs.

FJR1300:
Our contract is up at the end of the year and I am fearful the union will authorize a strike. The last time that happened, we were out a long time and ended up coming back for a nickel less per hour then the company was originally offering.

:rolleyes:

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