After six months of bargaining, a group of newly unionized Iron Workers rally for a first contract and to oppose outsourcing.
Facing layoffs, a group of workers employed by the Wendt Corporation, a company that manufactures equipment for the scrap metal recycling industry, in Cheektowaga, New York rallied last as their union and employer continue negotiating a first-time contract.
Around 30 employees of Wendt unionized last June, but the company and union have failed to get a contract so far, according to William Hudson, a six-year Wendt employee and member of the union’s organizing committee.
Management has met with the union around 20-times to negotiate their first contract but those meetings have proved futile, according to the Cheektowaga Chronicle.
“We’re not asking for a lot. We want respect, a little bit of a wage increase – they don’t want to give us anything. It took us months to get a little spot on the bulletin board. They’re doing everything possible to make this go away,” added Mr. Huson.
Although federal law does not require a company and union ever to agree to a contract, the union states the company is outsourcing 70 percent of the jobs to Mexico and to a unionized contractor in Rochester, which is prompting claims that the company is “union busting.”
“The company told union members the pending layoffs are the result of a decrease in business according to the Iron Workers,” according to the paper.
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