ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
ABOUT 300 JOBS are at stake if Rubatex Corp. takes part of its operations to Arkansas.
Citing poor performance and deadlocked negotiations with union representatives, Rubatex Corp. has told employees at its Bedford plant that it may move part of the plant's operations to Arkansas, eliminating nearly 300 local jobs in the process.
In a memo to employees dated June 20, Bedford plant manager Steve Turner said the corporation was prepared to move part of its operation and 287 of the Bedford plant's 820 jobs to a Rubatex facility in Colt, Ark., unless plant performance was improved and a contract agreement could be reached with union officials in Bedford.
"I think they're very serious about their position on this," Bedford Mayor Mike Shelton said of his city's largest employer. "I don't think it's a bluff."
Rubatex made the announcement after representatives from United Steel Workers Local 240 called off a recent round of negotiations on bargaining points such as seniority, overtime and wage/benefit increases.
Negotiations reopened this week, but no solution has been reached, a company representative said Wednesday.. The union represents 611 workers at the Bedford plant.
"We are still trying very hard to reach an agreement on a mutual plan that will improve Bedford's performance," said Jery Kirschke, Rubatex spokesman and vice president of human resources.
Local union President Price Parker Jr. said the union was "willing to talk any time, and we're willing to try and work out a reasonable and fair agreement. We're willing to meet them halfway."
But Parker said Rubatex management deserved blame for problems at the plant.
"I really do think it's unfair, because management has made a lot of bad decisions at our plant, and the workers have tried to do their best," Parker said. "Any problems we have go back to management and some of the calls they have made."
Shelton, Bedford City Manager Jack Gross and other members of Bedford City Council have talked with Rubatex officials over the past week and have offered assistance, including help in locating state and local resources for employee training.
"We are deeply concerned about the status of any industry reducing employment or pulling out operations," Shelton said. Rubatex, he added, is not "playing any games."
"They must have what they feel is necessary to effect changes in operations. If they don't get that, then they've told the employees the company has other alternatives, and that includes moving certain operations."
Earlier this year, Rubatex President Frank Roland told the company's Bedford employees that their performance and plant operations were not up to company standards. If quality improved, he said, the company would invest in upgrading the Bedford plant.
In contract negotiations over the past two months, Rubatex and union officials have disagreed on overtime and seniority issues. The company also disagreed with a union request for a 10 percent increase in wages and benefits.
"The company told the union it could not accept this proposal because we believed it was totally inappropriate under normal circumstances, and even more so considering the purpose of the negotiations was to develop a plan to improve Bedford's performance," Turner, the plant manager, told employees in his memo.
Parker said the amount of the raise was negotiable.
Rubatex has a recent history of union troubles and layoffs in Bedford. Five years ago, Rubatex workers there went on a weeklong strike over a proposal to reduce health care benefits. Two years ago, Bedford workers went on a two-day wildcat strike, protesting the company's requests for mandatory overtime and required co-payments for health insurance.
Last year, 90 hourly and salaried workers at the plant were laid off amid companywide restructuring.
This spring, 14 salaried employees, including some managers, were fired as part of what the company called its ongoing effort to improve Bedford operations.
Rubatex, which is owned by RBX Holdings Inc. of Roanoke County, employs about 1,500 workers and has plants in Colt; Conover, N.C.; and Bedford. RBX is owned by American Industrial Partners, an investment company based in San Francisco and New York.
Rubatex produces a closed-cell foam rubber from synthetic rubber, vinyl and plastics. The foam rubber product, which contains thousands of nitrogen-filled cells, is used for a variety of applications, from diving wet suits and other sports products to pipe insulation and shoe soles.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines KEYWORDS: JOBCHEKby CNB