BY JACK WILLEY AND PATTIE THOMPSON
HENDERSON, Kentucky - Several hundred members of United Auto
Workers (UAW) Local 2036 are entering their 15th month of a
lockout by Accuride Corp. here. On Feb. 20, 1998, union members
voted 371-9 to go on strike against a contract that would gut
basic union rights at the plant. The factory produces wheels
and rims for Peterbilt, Ford, General Motors, Mack, Navistar,
and other truck companies.
The company refused to budge, offering exactly the same contract one month later. When the local voted to return to work unconditionally under the previous contract, the company responded with a lockout.
"The main issue of the strike was company attempts to break our union," explained Jody Smith at the union hall May 11, echoing what other workers staffing the picket line emphasized.
Accuride's demands essentially would mean going from a closed shop where all workers join the union to an open shop; deny workers the right to see their union steward during work hours, including during a dispute with a boss, unless the boss gave them permission; and eliminating dues check off, where the company automatically takes union dues out of workers' checks. The contract would be six years long instead of previous two- and three-year durations.
The proposed contract also included contracting all maintenance and janitorial jobs out to largely nonunion companies, job combinations that Accuride stated would eliminate 110 jobs, and giving the company the powers to decide the medical plan for retirees.
Since the strike and lockout, Accuride has pushed forward in its attempts to break the union. The company brought in more than 100 scabs through a strike-breaking hiring agency, Worldwide Labor, based in Mississippi. Accuride also hired the notorious Vance Security, whose thugs are stationed at the plant and some bosses' homes. The company claims the plant is running at full capacity using management and replacement workers.
On the picket line May 10, several unionists recounted their experiences of being blacklisted from getting hired at other factories in the area. "If you want to work, you better not put down Accuride as your last employer on an application. Some places have told me to my face they refuse to hire us," said one picketer. Several other big companies in Henderson are nonunion and pay lower wages.
Six months into the lockout, the company offered an even worse contract, which union members voted overwhelmingly to not even take a vote on, seeing it as an insult.
Up until last November unionists held monthly marches from their union hall to the plant. "You would see a mile of people all the way down the highway," Smith said.
The union has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board requesting the board rule the lockout is illegal. "The last time there were negotiations between the union and the company was in February, at our urging. Nothing came of it. Right now were waiting for the NLRB ruling," said Michelle Bland.
The picket lines remain staffed every day around the clock.
Pattie Thompson is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1474 in Chicago.