Laborers at Mannington Mills' plant in Salem, N.J., will vote on whether they want union representation next week, and in the interim the company's chairman is urging them to vote "no," because he says it would have a negative affect on the company at large.
Laborers at Mannington Mills' plant in Salem, N.J., will vote on whether they want union representation next week, and in the interim the company's chairman is urging them to vote "no," because he says it would have a negative affect on the company at large.
Chairman Keith Campbell wrote a letter to the editor at Today's Sunbeam that said formation of a laborer's union "affects all 570 Salem site associates and almost 2,000 Mannington associates around North America, and their families. A third-party intervention will add to the operating costs of the company, can hinder direct associate-to-associate relationships, and would add a degree of separation between Mannington and our community."
Chip Gerrity, president and business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 94, told Today's Sunbeam that Mannington's workers came to him last summer with concerns about "pensions, health insurance, wage parity, shift coverage and transfers within the plant."
Campbell, in his letter, said the entire floor covering industry suffered as a result of the latest economic recession, and that Mannington made difficult changes to save jobs. "We had to make some changes-a frozen pension (which is consistent with what our competitors and others in the region have done) and a temporary suspension of the company's match of the 401(k), which was reinstated after 17 months. We continue to offer a competitive healthcare benefits plan, and despite the national increase in healthcare costs, we know that our associate costs are on par with, even better than, what other companies offer," he wrote.
Mannington operates six manufacturing sites throughout the East Coast and California, including hardwood plants in High Point, N.C.; and Epes, Ala. NJ.com reported that one of Mannington's plants in California is unionized, while the others are not.
