ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 14, 1997 TAG: 9703140029
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON THE ROANOKE TIMES
It was the second time the union has made overtures at the fast-growing concern.
Employees of Virginia Transformer Corp. on Thursday narrowly rejected representation by a union.
The International Union of Electrical Workers lost, 53-46, its bid to become the collective bargaining agent at the Roanoke plant. The same union last spring canceled a similar vote at Virginia Transformer the day before ballots were to be cast.
Charles Van Dellen, local representative of the Washington, D.C.-based union, said those who voted for the union were hoping it could negotiate improvements in general working conditions. He declined to identify any conditions at issue at the Roanoke plant. The company custom-builds equipment that adjusts power feeds from generating stations to levels suitable for commercial buildings and other uses such as subway systems.
A second, though less significant concern, was how much workers are paid, Van Dellen said. He said the fast-growing private company is not fairly sharing its profits. The company has said it pays $7 to $12 per hour, and has a profit-sharing plan and retirement benefits.
"The ones that were for the union, from what I could gather, they're looking for more fairness overall in the plant," Van Dellen said. He described those who cast the 46 yes votes as generally senior employees.
Prabhat K. Jain, company president, said the union promised his workers raises. "We heard numbers like $1 an hour," Jain said, adding the overture sounded attractive to his newer employees. He said many of them voted in favor of the union thinking, with the area's low unemployment rate and plentiful jobs, "if it doesn't work, we can always go get another job."
"We knew it was going to be close," he said.
Company lawyer Clint Morse said some workers supported the union because of factors in their jobs related to the company's recent growth. Virginia Transformer "expects a lot of its employees," Morse said.
Jain said new orders, coupled with a shortage of skilled applicants for new positions, forced him to raise production by extending the work week to an average of 47 hours and rotating work shifts, which disrupted some workers' home lives.
To help workers become more productive, the company is investing in technology and training, Jain said. He also said he has increased benefits and raised wages substantially.
The main reason the company opposed the union was because contract cycles would have added potential uncertainty to the company's ability to deliver goods on time, which is key to keeping sales climbing, said vice president Rajiv Arora.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB