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    Vol.62/No.15           April 20, 1998 
 
 
Workers Push Back Case's Contract Demands At UK Plant  

BY PAUL GALLOWAY
MANCHESTER, England - At a mass meeting in early March, shop stewards of the Amalgamated Engineering Electrical Workers Union (AEEU) reported they were deadlocked in negotiations at the factory formerly known as Fermec, which is now owned by Case Corp., a U.S.-based manufacturer of heavy construction equipment.

Case had offered a 3.8 percent pay raise, combined with the introduction of annualized hours. The unions' demand had been for a "substantial" pay increase. "Annualized hours" means the company can impose mandatory overtime without extra pay during part of the year, and time off when orders are slack. The workers rejected this demand and voted to call in the union's district official, taking the negotiations to a higher level.

At a second mass meeting March 13, union officials announced that Case has withdrawn the demand to introduce annualized hours, but reduced the pay offer slightly to 3.5 percent. The union members voted to accept this settlement, which also included increased pensions. Earlier, white- collar staff had been granted a "holiday" from contributing to the pension fund because the company's stock prices are high, including the prices of shares bought by the pension fund with the workers' and company's contributions.

The bosses made clear that they intend to keep coming back to the table with their demands around annualized hours of work, as they probed in the negotiations. Case also indicated its plan to begin hiring temporary workers from an employment agency. Only one agency worker was hired during the period of the negotiations. The 500 workers at the plant currently include permanent workers and temporary workers directly hired by Case. The AEEU agreement with the boss states that only 25 percent of the workforce at any time can be made up of temporary workers; above that management must grant permanent contracts.

There is real interest among workers here in the struggles of workers at other plants owned by Case. After hearing about the contract fight by United Auto Workers members in the United States, AEEU shop steward Owen Sheldon, said, "It would be great if workers at the Case plant in Iowa got to hear about what was going on in Manchester."

Case workers in Manchester are also discussing - and trying to learn more about -the struggle of workers at another Case-owned plant, Crappé, in Paris. Management here is continually trying to pit workers at the Case plants in Britain against those in France.

Paul Galloway works at Case-Fermec and is a member of the AEEU.  
 
 
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