For more than a decade, Billy Strode's weekdays have been spent welding small parts for combine heads inside Case New Holland Industrial's Burlington plant.þþThis week, he traded in his welding equipment for a picket sign.þþÿMy job is very important,ÿ Strode told The Hawk Eye on Tuesday from one of the three picket lines established outside of the plant where he's worked for the past 12 years. ÿWithout the parts that I do, they can't run that combine head.ÿþþNow, he said, his job is being done by a replacement worker. þþÿThese are all the people coming in and doing our jobs,ÿ 10-year CNH employee Jeremy Parrish said Tuesday, motioning toward a pair of approaching vans with out-of-state license plates approaching the Case parking lot.þþHe and about a dozen other union members marched back and forth, effectively blocking the vehicles from entering the lot. They broke briefly to allow a Burlington police squad car to enter, but quickly resumed their picket before the officer approached them on foot and told them they must allow the vehicles to pass. þþAbout 35 vans displaying license plates from Missouri, Texas, California and other states arrived at the plant Tuesday morning carrying temporary workers to fill in for about 430 United Auto Worker Local 807 members who walked out of the Des Moines Avenue building at noon Monday after 2½ months of failed negotiations between the union and CNH.þþÿThey pretty much had replacement workers ready to go in as we were coming out. So in my mind, my opinion is it was premeditated,ÿ said UAW Local 807 President Nick Guernsey. ÿYou don't just get replacement workers from places like Texas and California in a couple hours.ÿþþGuernsey had been optimistic about contract negotiations going into the weekend. Both sides continued discussions beyond the union contract's expiration at midnight Sunday, continuing instead with hourly extensions.þþBy Sunday night, Guernsey said, talks began to dissolve. þþÿThe UAW council was willing to go back to the table Monday morning, and it never happened,ÿ Guernsey said. ÿRight now, negotiations are nonexistent.ÿþþThe most significant sticking points are pay and time off, Guernsey and several union members told The Hawk Eye. þþGuernsey said that, according to previous estimations, Case's non-union plants pay about $5.50 per hour more than the union plants in Burlington and Racine, Wisconsin, where workers also went on strike Monday. The company, however, declined to provide information about pay at other plants to the UAW, Guernsey said. þþÿWe're wanting parity between us and non-union plants,ÿ Guernsey said. þþRebecca Fabian, a spokesperson for CNH Industrial North America, said the company is ÿnot commenting on specifics.ÿþþÿWe recognize the union’s decision creates high anxiety among our represented employees in Burlington and Racine, as well as our other employees, our customers, and our community,ÿ the company said in a statement. ÿWe remain committed to reaching an agreement, and we are working to resolve this issue. We will continue to negotiate in good faith and trust that the union will do the same.ÿþþGuernsey said there has been no indication when negotiations will resume.þþ
Source: thehawkeye.com
