Orange Shirts Make Boss See Red, But Get Results for Local 610

Wilmerding, PA

By the simple act of wearing orange T-shirts to work, Local 610 members caused a panic in management, but forced the company to start dealing seriously with grievances.

Workers at WABCO in recent months became increasingly frustrated by mandatory overtime, petty harrassment, and the company bouncing people around to different departments in violation of the contract. “They even had supervisors using stopwatches to time people’s breaks,” says Local 610 President Rob Kustra. Management at the air brake plant was ignoring worker complaints and giving union leaders a runaround.

Union leaders looked for a way for members to protest against being treated like prisoners. The union purchased orange T-shirts and had “INMATE” printed on the back. They had wanted to give each worker a prisoner number, but that proved too costly and cumbersome. So every “inmate” got the same number – 15148 – the zip code of Wilmerding.

The local didn’t give the T-shirts out for free, but asked each member to pay $10 for his or her own shirt, more for the larger sizes.

When three-quarters of first shift workers showed up in the orange shirts on August 31, management went ballistic. The company demanded that workers take off the offensive shirts, and offered every employee a Wabtec shirt instead. (Wabtec is WABCO’s corporate parent.) Workers refused. So the company tried offering a Steelers shirt to every employee. But even in the heart of Steeler country, that offer wouldn’t break the workers’ unity. The company threatened to send everyone wearing an inmate shirt home at 11:15 (halfway through the shift.) No one backed down, and even workers not wearing the inmate shirts said they’d leave too. The company threatened to fire Kustra, Business Agent John DeCenzo, and Chief Steward Kris Kovel, for “insubordination.” The union leaders refused to buckle.

Often when workers refuse to back down to employer threats, it is then the boss who must retreat. The orange shirts didn’t come off, but no one was sent home. The company instead agreed to a series of meetings with the union, at which the company got more serious about settling problems than it had been in many months.

Union leaders are gratified by the member support. “The best part of this was seeing everbody united,” says Kris Kovel. “People were finally fed up, and see what the union is trying to accomplish,” adds John DeCenzo. “The company has to recognize that this is a union shop.”

The union is giving the company a chance to change its ways. But if the current talks fail to produce lasting results, the members still have those T-shirts.