WALTHAM, Mass., July 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Conn-Selmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. (NYSE: LVB), announced today that employees with Local 2359 of the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike this morning at the Company’s Eastlake, Ohio manufacturing facility. The Company’s labor contract with the union expired on February 15th and hourly employees have been working without a contract since that time.
The UAW represents approximately 230 employees at Conn-Selmer’s Eastlake, Ohio brass instrument facility. This equates to 28% of the band segment workforce. The Company anticipates it will be able to meet most customer needs for several months with its existing finished goods inventory, production from its Indiana brass instrument facility and foreign sources.
“The Company has been negotiating in good faith with representatives of the UAW for the past six months,” commented John Stoner, President of Conn-Selmer. “In light of the economic environment, we believe we put a fair offer on the table. While we have reached agreement in many areas, we are still divided on some issues. We hope to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
via PRNewswire.
