Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 14, 1991 TAG: 9104140312
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
In his heart of hearts, UAW Local 2069 president Joe Parah said, he thought there would be more, especially during these tough times.
"It surprised the fire out of me," he said.
In the end, the 680 union members got what they wanted: 3 percent yearly raises, no change in health benefits and several job-security provisions.
They also gained something no labor contract could ever guarantee:
"We got to know each other closer and the families. We just grew a whole lot," Parah said. "We've been union for 12 years, but now we're bound together."
The strike was the first at Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. in its 17 years in Pulaski County.
And it landed Parah smack in the middle of a power struggle between the company and his own higher-ups in the UAW International in Detroit.
"I felt personally we were in the middle of two high-ranking [groups] and they had a grudge against each other. They were almost using us; I really feel that in a way."
Everybody calls him Joe, but Parah's first name is Armand, like his son, an engineer with Volvo's corporate headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.
"It's always family before work," said the younger Parah, "so it's never put a damper on anything."
He talked with his 48-year-old father several times a week during the strike, but never about it. Instead, they'd talk about fishing, hunting, camping and family.
"He sounded stressed out - not worried, though. I think he handled it real well," Parah's son said.
"Mom was a nervous wreck. Scared for Dad, scared for everyone in the plant. She didn't want to see anyone losing their job."
Neither did the local union president.
Negotiations on the three-year labor contract renewal began Feb. 1. During the last week before the contract ran out, a rift between management and union developed as talks zeroed in on economic issues.
A strike authorization vote passed, with 96 percent of the members in favor, strengthening the UAW's leverage at the bargaining table.
The union presented its final demands. "And, hell, we just waited 26 hours for them to come back to the table. We waited and waited," Parah said.
On March 8, three hours before the contract expired, Volvo came back with its final offer.
Fourteen items remained unresolved, and neither the International nor the company would budge. At midnight, Local 2069 announced it was on strike.
Parah, a Volvo employee for 15 years and union president for five, started putting in 20-hour work days at the union hall, talking with workers, reporters and, over the phone, International representatives.
It was during the second week that he began to pull away from the International, which was pushing for higher wages, among other things. The local was ready to settle for less.
It was a bad time for a strike, with a weakened economy and New River Valley unemployment hitting the double digits.
"I knew something needed to be done. I had a gut feeling, a hurt feeling. I didn't want to do it, but my main concern was my membership."
Parah met with plant managers informally to find out what the company was willing to move on. After several more meetings, he had a tentative contract in hand.
The International was not pleased.
"I have never had what happened down there happen before, where the local committee met with the company without the International," said Elliott "Andy" Anderson, a top UAW official who took part in the original negotiations.
Unfair labor practice charges are pending with the National Labor Relations Board, filed by the International against Volvo.
From the start, the International's biggest demand was for higher wages and protection against future inflation, Anderson said.
The Dublin workers earn an average of $14.50 an hour, and cost-of-living increases have been capped at 5 cents an hour for several years. Anderson said the Dublin wage is $2.44 less than the industry standard, and other UAW contracts contain a cost-of-living clause.
Those concessions will put Volvo's competitors at a disadvantage because their labor costs will be higher than Volvo's, Anderson said.
At last Friday's membership meeting, Anderson and other International officials tried to persuade the members to reject the contract. Some workers booed and heckled them.
Parah's presentation, however, was followed by a supportive chant of "Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe."
"Joe's a likeable guy," Anderson said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I'm afraid he didn't show a leadership role."
Anderson said Parah should have taken a more militant stand with the company. But he said he understands why Parah led his membership to accept the contract. A few days before the vote, Volvo threatened to start hiring permanent replacement workers.
"Obviously, he thought he was doing what he thought the membership wanted," Anderson said. "But what the membership wants today may not be what it wants in a few months. It may come back to haunt Joe."
by CNB