Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 10, 1994                   TAG: 9406170079
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-17   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

CORNING, UNION RATIFY NEW 3-YEAR CONTRACT

Corning's personnel director, John Yearick, declined to elaborate on specifics of the contract, which was approved by more than 80 percent of the union-represented employees Wednesday, except to say that pay raises exceed the three-year industry standard of 7.7 percent.

He said workers will receive the largest raises the first year of the contract, and that the benefits and retirement packages were improved.

Rumors had begun circulating that the union could be headed for a strike, which has not occurred at a Corning plant in 51 years. That was after workers rejected two previous offers in recent weeks.

But Yearick noted that the contract was approved well before the current contract's expiration on July 31. The difficulty in ratifying a contract was more in dispelling confusion about the entire package, rather than a specific item such as health or retirement benefits, he said.

Union President Mark Stevers could not be reached for comment Thursday. In a a release prepared by Corning, he said, "The union worked hard during negotiations to arrive at a contract that improves members' jobs, their lives and their families' lives."

- STEPHEN FOSTER