ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on July 6, 1996.
Rubatex Corp. worlkers will vote at Bedford Middle School on Monday
on a new labor contract. An incorrect place was included in a story
Thursday. Votes will be held at 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. for
workers of the plant's three shifts.
One day after layoff notices were posted at Rubatex Corp.'s Bedford plant, union officials asked Wednesday that workers be given another chance to vote on the company's proposed changes in the labor contract.
Rubatex agreed, and voting is scheduled for Monday at the United Steelworkers Local 240 hall in Bedford.
Some workers are skeptical, however, because Rubatex has not guaranteed to halt plans to lay off 287 workers, even if workers vote to accept the contract changes.
Jery Kirschke, a Rubatex spokesman and vice president of human resources, said the company will determine what to do about layoffs after Monday's vote. But, he added, "If there is a strong positive vote [for the contract changes], Rubatex will not move the jobs."
Asked how many votes would constitute a "strong positive vote," Kirschke said: "We'll leave that open to interpretation."
Despite threats of layoffs, union workers on Sunday defeated the company's proposed contract changes 221-219. Immediately after the vote, Rubatex said it would lay off 287 of its 820 workers and move the plant's extrusion division to a Rubatex plant in Colt, Ark.
The workers' current contract expires in September 1997. The company wanted to change some provisions and extend the contract until 1999.
The company has refused to divulge specifics of its proposal. But workers have given The Roanoke Times details of the offer and have expressed reasons for voting against it. These include:
* Mandatory overtime. Plant workers aren't required to work overtime now, though many say they do. Under the company's proposed changes, the workers said, each worker could be required to work a maximum of 20 hours overtime each week, as well as three consecutive Saturdays and two Sundays a month, as needed.
That means they could be forced to work as much as two 76-hour weeks, one 68-hour week and one 60-hour week every month, workers said.
* Seniority. Under the current contract, workers are laid off in order of plant seniority, with less-senior employees leaving first. Under the company's new proposal, workers say, senior employees could be laid off for periods of no more than three weeks.
* Production problems. Many workers are upset because management has cited poor work performance as a reason for layoffs. But workers blame plant managers who, they say, have tried to speed up production and increase the workload without making improvements to antiquated machinery. The result, workers say, has been faulty products that have to be worked over, causing production slow-downs and poor-quality goods.
* Fear that the plant will close anyway. Many workers think Rubatex is intent on closing the plant in Bedford entirely. They don't think a positive vote will matter.
John Sines, a 27-year-employee at the plant, voted against the plan Sunday. He's not sure how he'll vote Monday.
"You got to ask yourself, 'Are they bluffing or are they serious?''' he said. "Unless the re-vote is pretty positive and one-sided in their favor, then the jobs are still going to be gone."
Charles Mallory Jr., a former union vice president who's running for president this month, knows how he will vote.
"I will vote 'no' to the day I die," Mallory said. "When they break into my contract a year before it's up to give me mandatory overtime and a loss of seniority in my department, I'll vote it down as long as I'm living, and as long as I'm a union member."
Rubatex "is expecting the union to give [it] something but [it's] not giving us any guarantees," Mallory said. "That's why we as union members need to be as cautious as we can be."
Mallory thinks his co-workers will vote for the company plan, however, out of fear.
``I think they'll turn it over. They're not thinking further down the road. They're not thinking for their future.
``Once you open up the door and give the devil a ride, sooner or later he'll want to drive.''
Price Parker Jr., president of the local, refused to comment Wednesday. Rubatex makes closed-cell foam rubber used in diving suits, pipe insulation and shoe soles. Finished products made at the plant include insulated holders for aluminum cans.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 linesby CNB