Schneider Electric was negotiating new labor contracts with IBEW, the International Association of Machinists and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing six bargaining units at facilities nationwide. Union members at four manufacturing facilities ratified a new contract, effective at midnight Monday morning.
Two union chapters — IBEW’s Local 2287 in Oxford, and an IAM-organized facility in Peru, Ind. — did not agree to the new terms and are striking.
As a result, Schneider Electric said it will shift work from the Indiana and Ohio plants to other facilities in North America. Hundreds of salaried workers have been trained to meet production and shipping commitments.
“We have a very fair contract for our employees and company and we are very pleased that this new agreement has been ratified in the majority of our facilities,” said Ted Klee, senior vice president of Schneider Electric’s Global Supply Chain in North America, in a provided statement.
“With our strike contingency plans, we are confident we will continue to meet the needs of our customers. It’s unfortunate for our employees and customers that our union leadership has decided this course of action instead of continuing to work through the issues. We are committed to continue to do our part to reach a new contract that is fair for our people and company, and reflects the economic realities of our business,” reads a statement from Klee.
IBEW represents 235 Oxford workers who refused an offer from the company Sunday night, said Dennis Helton, president of Local 2287.
“The company wants to freeze the pension plan, and then of course, wages is another issue for us. Back in 2004, the company came to the union and said unless we gave up some of our benefits, that they were going to have to relocate. Since that time, the company has made lots of money … so we think they’re in a position now that we can get some of those wages back,” Helton said.
The workers have a two-tier wage structure. The lower tier should earn at least a living wage, he said.
Schneider had offered a three percent wage increase for the first year, and two percent in the second and third years.
“If the wages were a living wage now, we probably wouldn’t need to ask for more. But they’re not,” he said.
According to Bill Dietz, the international IBEW representative for the fourth district, the last union proposal was based on an average wage of $20.98 an hour, for an average increase of three percent each year. That rate would be used to calculate what that three percent raise would be, giving the lower-tier workers a better deal.
“Since 2004, with the two-tier wage schedule, we have people working at $12 an hour. They have to work at $10.10 an hour because they’re with a temp service, then they have to be selected out of the temp pool to get a full-time job at $12 an hour,” Dietz said.
The result is “individuals with a pretty prolonged time of very low wages. Even when they start permanent, they have a low wage of $12 an hour,” he explained.
The union believes Schneider has 16 temporary workers on hand, with some management personnel from Lexington, Ky, said Dietz.
No new talks had been scheduled as of Tuesday, but the union hopes they would happen later this week, said Helton.
Insurance premiums are also a factor, said Roy Day, one of the employees on the picket line.
“They’re trying to freeze the pension for the older ones that are here. We don’t want that. And our raises are not high enough to pay the insurance premiums,” said Day, who has worked for the company eight years. “We’re losing money.”
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