Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 5, 1993 TAG: 9305050174
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Southwest Bureau
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The vote on representation by the United Steelworkers of America is scheduled for today by the National Labor Relations Board. In a similar election in 1979, employees rejected union representation, by the International Ladies Garment Workers, by a vote of 76-43.
The company has been placing full-page ads in newspapers aimed at keeping, as one ad says, "Polymer and our community union-free." It mentions such community support by the company as Wythe County United Way drives, Wytheville Community College scholarship endowments and other contributions.
An ad which ran Tuesday in the Roanoke Times & World-News told of the dedication of an employee named John Rudi, a maintenance man who died about 15 years ago and whose company planted a tree in his memory, then transplanted it to its new office when it moved.
It concludes that there are a lot of people just like John Rudi at Polymer who take pride in their work and whose values are reflected in the company. There is no mention of the union election in the ad, only a concluding statement: "Together we can make it work!" followed by the names of all 153 of Polymer's employees.
The narration about Big John carries an acknowledgement that it was adapted from something written about him by another company's president.
Mary Jane Umberger, in Polymer's personnel office, said that company was in a different state and not connected with Polymer. The narration simply was meant to reflect dedicated employees like those at Polymer, she said.
The Wytheville plant makes nylon and acetal stock shapes for the engineered plastics market.
A statement from management issued last week said Polymer is committed to remaining union-free, continuing its world market-share growth, supporting economic prosperity for the community and supplying long-term job security.
by CNB