With the new contract ratified on January 14, the resurgence of UE Local 1187 is complete. The new agreement restores the contract provisions the local gave up to facilitate the reopening of the plant in March 2011, and adds significant gains in wages and other areas. The workers at Load King - who manufacture truck trailers - have come a long way since 2010, when the previous corporate owner closed the plant and seemingly broke the union.
The new three-year agreement restores the old system of job classifications, and immediately raises the base pay of workers in the welder, paint, maintenance and trailer repair classifications by $1.50 an hour. These classifications cover 70 percent of the workforce. Base pay for all other classifications is increased by 50 cents. Journeyman pay, which rewards the longevity of workers with more than five years seniority, is also increased. Previously it paid an additional 10 cents an hour for each five-year increment in seniority, and now that amount is increased to 25 cents. A 20-year worker will receive an additional $1 an hour in journeyman pay under the new contract, up from 35 cents in the expired agreement.
All base rates will be increase by an additional 2 percent in the third year of the contract. There is also added pay for welders who achieve AWS certification. The company will pay for the testing, and when certified, the employee will receive an additional 50 cents an hour.
Workers gained an additional holiday that will be taken in combination with the July 4 holiday to create a long weekend. Paid bereavement (three days) was added to the contract. The new agreement reduces mandatory overtime from a maximum of 10 hours a week to eight hours. The annual safety shoe allowance was increased from $80 to $120.
"It went well," says Local 1187 President Jim Vennard. "Best contract we ever got, I think. It took about eight hours maybe, to get it all wrapped up. It will work real well for the company, too."
Terex, the previous owner of Load King, closed the plant in early 2010, then sold it to Manitex International, which retained the anti-union manager and began hiring a new workforce, excluding most UE members and displaying anti-union bias in the hiring interviews. The union fought back and filed unfair labor practices (ULP) charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). After investigating, the NLRB concluded that the company discriminated against union members. The NLRB was preparing to seek a federal court injunction against the company. These developments prompted the new company to negotiate. The result was reinstatement of union members by seniority, back pay for those who had applied for but been denied jobs, settlement of the legal charges, and a new contract.
That two-year contract restored most of the old agreement. But because the company's actions had severely hurt the business, and the plant would be operating with a reduced workforce, the union agreed to merge jobs into a single multifunctional classification, at one pay rate, until the plant got back to full capacity. Orders and employment are now up significantly - 15 people initially went back into the plant in 2011, and employment is now 50. The company also learned that it was increasingly difficult to operate and staff the plant without classifications, and management agreed to restore the classifications and provide significant raises in the new agreement.
The union got an indication that the new management was serious about working together to improve the business one year ago, when the company agreed to place a union label on each trailer manufactured in Elk Point. The sticker shows a welder and an American flag, and the text reads, "PROUDLY MADE BY MEMBERS OF UE LOCAL 1187. PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA." As Local President Jim Vennard explained at the time, the company wanted to add the sticker "to show the customers that the union and company are working together instead of fighting each other."
The Local 1187 bargaining committee for the new contract consisted of President Jim Vennard, Vice President Randy Edwards, Financial Secretary Tim Holmberg, Recording Secretary Dave Toso, and Luu Nguyen. They were assisted by UE Field Organizer Jack Lasiter.