Teamsters Reject Armstrong Contract Proposal

Union members working at Armstrong World Industries' (Lancaster, Pa.) hardwood flooring plant in Beverly, W. Va., overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal by a 2-1 majority on Thursday, according to a Teamster Local 175 press release. Teamsters there have been working under a contract that was created almost five years ago and that is set to expire Saturday. Currently, no walkout is expected during negotiations.

Grievances cited by union leaders include:

• "… massive premium increases and severe benefit cuts … despite the fact that the company's health care cost for this group has decreased by more than 21 percent since 2007."
• The company's increasing health care deductibles by 50 percent, substantially reducing prescription drug coverage and eliminating the defined benefit pension plan for newly hired employees.

"We are disappointed our Beverly, West Virginia, plant employees rejected the proposed labor agreement," said Jennifer Johnson, Armstrong's senior manager, Corporate Communication. "... [T]he downturn in the housing market continues to adversely impact the wood flooring business. We consider the proposal we presented to be fair, realistic and necessary to move the business forward, and we hope our employees will soon ratify an agreement that supports the company's business needs such as reducing health care and legacy costs."

Earlier this week it was announced that Armstrong will idle its engineered plant in Statesville, N.C., on April 29.