Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 24, 2008 13:02:01 GMT -5
Union election set April 9 at Austal's Mobile shipyard
Re-vote ordered after 2002 effort sparked complaints that company violated labor laws
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By KAIJA WILKINSONBusiness Reporter
www.al.com/business/press-register/index.ssf?/base/business/120626379995580.xml&coll=3
In a "rerun" of a 2002 election that generated complaints to federal officials, a union vote is set April 9 at Austal USA's 1,140-employee shipyard in Mobile, according to federal officials.
The National Labor Relations Board in March 2007 upheld a judge's 2003 ruling that the shipyard broke federal labor laws with its actions related to the failed 2002 election. The ruling also ordered a new vote.
Union officials last week said the new election had since been delayed by bureaucratic red tape.
Austal today is a very different shipyard than in 2002, when the fledging newcomer had a limited order book and only 130 employees. Since then, employment has increased eightfold and the shipyard has secured major contracts for the Hawaii Superferry and military ships.
Austal, said President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Browning, has "transformed itself into one of the best employers in Mobile, and we believe our employees are now enjoying the benefits of that transformation
"Many employees have expressed support for Austal throughout this process, and we are confident that they will demonstrate that support on election day," Browning continued.
Tommy Fisher, a representative for Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 441, said he and his union colleagues have been handing out literature and visiting with employees outside of work.
"Probably about 80 to 90 percent of the workers are very courteous," Fisher said. "They accept our literature and are discreet about their support or nonsupport. We appreciate that, because we don't want to force this on anybody."
Representatives of Local 441 passed out union authorization cards and handbills before the failed 2002 election. The union needed, by law, 30 percent of the workers to sign authorization cards calling for a vote. At the time, the union reported that it got signatures from 70 percent of what was then 130 employees.
Employees in 2002 said they wanted a more standardized pay scale and better benefits.
The vote failed May 24, 2002, and subsequently the union charged Austal had broken labor laws in fighting the organizing effort. Among the charges upheld by the NLRB: firing 10 pro-union workers, threatening to close the plant and threatening to cut jobs.
No union cards were needed this time. Kathleen McKinney, deputy regional attorney for the NLRB in New Orleans, said that because next month's vote is a "rerun of the 2002 election," worker signatures were not required, despite the drastic increase in employees at Austal.
Shipyards along the Mobile River are, for the most part, nonunion organizations. Fisher said labor at most of the shipyards that build U.S. Navy ships are organized, as is the case in nearby Pascagoula, where Northrop Grumman Corp. has its Ingalls operation. That yard employs about 11,300 employees, 20 percent of whom live in Alabama.
Austal is building one of two prototypes of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, and has a design contract for a new type of high-speed transport ship for the military.
Banking on winning new, lucrative military contracts, the company plans a new $254 million manufacturing facility that it said will provide for much greater efficiency since several ships will be produced in almost assembly-line fashion.
Austal said last week that it will name an engineer/contractor for the project within weeks.
Re-vote ordered after 2002 effort sparked complaints that company violated labor laws
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By KAIJA WILKINSONBusiness Reporter
www.al.com/business/press-register/index.ssf?/base/business/120626379995580.xml&coll=3
In a "rerun" of a 2002 election that generated complaints to federal officials, a union vote is set April 9 at Austal USA's 1,140-employee shipyard in Mobile, according to federal officials.
The National Labor Relations Board in March 2007 upheld a judge's 2003 ruling that the shipyard broke federal labor laws with its actions related to the failed 2002 election. The ruling also ordered a new vote.
Union officials last week said the new election had since been delayed by bureaucratic red tape.
Austal today is a very different shipyard than in 2002, when the fledging newcomer had a limited order book and only 130 employees. Since then, employment has increased eightfold and the shipyard has secured major contracts for the Hawaii Superferry and military ships.
Austal, said President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Browning, has "transformed itself into one of the best employers in Mobile, and we believe our employees are now enjoying the benefits of that transformation
"Many employees have expressed support for Austal throughout this process, and we are confident that they will demonstrate that support on election day," Browning continued.
Tommy Fisher, a representative for Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 441, said he and his union colleagues have been handing out literature and visiting with employees outside of work.
"Probably about 80 to 90 percent of the workers are very courteous," Fisher said. "They accept our literature and are discreet about their support or nonsupport. We appreciate that, because we don't want to force this on anybody."
Representatives of Local 441 passed out union authorization cards and handbills before the failed 2002 election. The union needed, by law, 30 percent of the workers to sign authorization cards calling for a vote. At the time, the union reported that it got signatures from 70 percent of what was then 130 employees.
Employees in 2002 said they wanted a more standardized pay scale and better benefits.
The vote failed May 24, 2002, and subsequently the union charged Austal had broken labor laws in fighting the organizing effort. Among the charges upheld by the NLRB: firing 10 pro-union workers, threatening to close the plant and threatening to cut jobs.
No union cards were needed this time. Kathleen McKinney, deputy regional attorney for the NLRB in New Orleans, said that because next month's vote is a "rerun of the 2002 election," worker signatures were not required, despite the drastic increase in employees at Austal.
Shipyards along the Mobile River are, for the most part, nonunion organizations. Fisher said labor at most of the shipyards that build U.S. Navy ships are organized, as is the case in nearby Pascagoula, where Northrop Grumman Corp. has its Ingalls operation. That yard employs about 11,300 employees, 20 percent of whom live in Alabama.
Austal is building one of two prototypes of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, and has a design contract for a new type of high-speed transport ship for the military.
Banking on winning new, lucrative military contracts, the company plans a new $254 million manufacturing facility that it said will provide for much greater efficiency since several ships will be produced in almost assembly-line fashion.
Austal said last week that it will name an engineer/contractor for the project within weeks.