BEVERLY, W.Va.— Members of the Teamsters Union Local 175 at AHF Products in Randolph County continue to work without contract. The rank and file employees rejected the companies latest offer on Sunday 369-26.
The plant employs about 500 workers who are ready to go on strike, but the union would rather continue negotiations according to Local 175 President Ken Hall.
“I’ve been doing this for 33 years and this is the most bizarre situations I’ve ever seen. The company doesn’t seem to know what they want. They move forward as if they want to reach an agreement, and then just stop. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Hall.
Hall said when he delivered the news of the rejection to the company he was speaking to the plant manager on Sunday who had only a couple of phrases he was allowed to offer to Hall in the conversation. One of those phrases was the company wants to resume negotiation, but without any preconditions. It seemed to be the exact same statement Plant Manager Blaine Emery gave to the media in regard to contract talks.
“The contract has expired. We do not want a strike and are willing to come to the table as long as the union does not place preconditions on those negotiations. It’s business as usual at this point,” read the statement from the company.
“If a contract is voted down 93 percent, you can’t expect to come back in and make the same offer expecting a different outcome. I explained that to him. I don’t know what they’re doing and everything here is different than I’ve ever seen,” Hall said.
The proposal which workers rejected offer a one-time bonus of $1,100 along with an hourly pay increase of 45 cents. However, the contract would have frozen the pension plans and driven up health insurance rates. According to Hall, the contract wanted to raise healthcare costs on workers 92 percent over the next three years.
“I’m very, very concerned. I told the plant manger they need to figure out what they’re going to do because we’re willing to come to the table and this isn’t going to be settled without coming to the table. We went up there with the intent of going on strike, but we decided to give them a few days if they can come to their senses,” said Hall.
There is no indication from the Teamsters how long they are willing to work without a contract or bargaining talks.