A year after the closing of the plant and apparent destruction of the union, UE Local 1187 has risen from the ashes. Load King is once again a UE union shop. This is another case of UE members who refused to give up and continued their fight, even in what appear to be hopeless circumstances.
In a unanimous vote on February 8 , members approved a new contract and an agreement settling NLRB charges which will put UE and its members back into the shop, which manufactures truck trailers. The agreement was finalized and signed on March 7, and members will begin returning to work on March 28.
This battle started in December 2009 just as the local was about to start negotiations for a new contract. Instead, management informed the union that the parent corporation, Terex, would be closing the plant. Terex did close the plant, but also sold it to another company, Manitex International. The company started hiring, but deliberately excluded nearly all members of the bargaining unit, even though an extension of Local 1187’s contract was still in effect. When interviewing UE members who applied for their old jobs, the company told them “the plant is going to be non-union” and questioned individuals about their past union activity (asking, for example, “Did you ever file a grievance?”)
The union demanded that its members be rehired, and when the company refused, filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Through its investigations of the charges, the NLRB concluded that the company discriminated against bargaining unit members in order to keep the union out. The NLRB issued a formal complaint against the company and decided to ask a federal judge to issue an injunction against the company under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act.
These developments eventually pushed the company to negotiate with the union in January 2011 to settle the legal charges and reinstate union members and the union contract. The company has agreed to reinstate bargaining unit members with their seniority intact. The first to be reinstated will be the nine union members who applied for jobs with the new company and were refused. The nine discriminatees will also each receive a $1,000 back pay award. All other members of the bargaining unit will then be recalled in order of seniority. The workers who Manitex illegally hired last year in place of union members have been laid off and have recall rights, but only after all of the bargaining unit members.
The contract, which runs through February 5, 2013, reinstates most of the old agreement. The vacations and longevity pay, as well as the seniority that workers had before the plant closing are all restored. But the company’s actions severely hurt the business, and so the plant will be operating for a while with a reduced workforce. Because of this, the new contract merges jobs into a single classification at one pay rate, and workers will be multifunctional until the plant gets back to full capacity. For workers who were in higher-paid classifications, this will result in reduced pay. When the plant gets back up to speed the local expects to negotiate to restore classifications, with pay rates in line with skill requirements.
“A year ago I would have never thought this would happen,” says Local 1187 President Jim Vennard. “Everybody’s pretty surprised, and happy.” Vennard thanked UE International Rep. Greg Cross, Field Organizer Jack Lassiter, General Counsel Joseph Cohen and Western Region President Carl Rosen for their work. “They all kept the faith and kept us into it, and that’s what got it through.” He said Local 1187 is looking forward to returning to regional meetings and the UE Convention.