Whirlpool workers approved a new labor contract Thursday that will give them a raise of $1.05 an hour over the next five years, plus $2,300 in payments during that time.
Dave Jones, president of Local 808 of the International Union of Electrical Workers, said after the vote that although he was “not real pleased with the contract … I didn’t think this is the right time to be on strike.”
He also said he was pleased with the good turnout in the voting – 1,695 of the local’s approximately 1,900 members voted. “It was a lot more than normal,” Jones said.
Debbie Castrale, a spokeswoman for Whirlpool, said she was pleased union members ratified the contract, which she described as “a fair contract” that gave members improved wages and benefits.
The contract also gives the company a better opportunity “to compete in the top-mount (refrigerator) industry, which is becoming increasingly difficult,” she said.
The Evansville Whirlpool plant makes refrigerators with freezers mounted on the top of the unit.
Jones would not release the number of “yes” and “no” votes on the contract. Voting took place during a 24-hour period Wednesday and Thursday.
If workers had turned down the contract, they would have gone on strike Thursday.
The five-year contract will give workers a $300 signing bonus. It will give them raises of 35 cents an hour in the first, third and fifth years of the contract. It will give them lump-sum payments of $1,000 in the second and fourth years of the contract.
Assemblers, the job held by most workers at the plant, now receive $15.19 an hour. The first hourly wage increase goes into effect Saturday.
For beginning workers, who now receive $10.50 an hour under Whirlpool’s two-tier wage system, wages will go up $1.75 an hour during the five years. They, too, will receive the $2,300 in bonuses.
The company offered two new medical plans in addition to plans offered now. Employee-paid premium increases on existing plans ranged from 96 cents per week to $7.69 per week.
The plan also included improved pension benefits.
A controversial company proposal for random drug testing was dropped from the final agreement.
Union leadership had recommended that workers approve the contract.
Jones said Thursday that, while he and others may not like all aspects of the contract, union negotiators were “being pressed with these unfair trade agreements, like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).” The trade agreements have allowed cheaper imports and have held manufacturing wages down, he said.
From courierpress.com