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CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee - Steelworkers at Wheland Foundry's two plants here ended a seven-week strike June 19, after ratifying a three-year contract.
Members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 3967 went on strike May 2 as their old contract expired.
The biggest issue concerning strikers was the company's demand for "flexibility" in work schedules, which would allow Wheland to schedule 10- and 12-hour shifts with no overtime pay.
Wheland, this city's largest manufacturer, makes brake castings used in more than half of all U.S.-made cars. The company recently won a major General Motors contract to supply a new line of castings.
The steel bosses threatened to shut down and move plants unless union members agreed to the concessions. In turn, the big-business media went on a campaign to blame strikers for destabilizing Chattanooga's so-called business-friendly climate.
The new contract supposedly eliminates 12-hour shifts and guarantees overtime pay for any hours worked beyond eight. But Wheland can still schedule longer shifts in 1999, if new production lines and equipment are brought into the plant. A committee has been set up to study "flexible" scheduling. Unionists demanded a 5 percent annual raise for the duration of the contract, but won a 3 percent annual increase. Three strikers who were fired for strike activity will be represented by the union in appeals.
A number of workers who spoke to the Militant at the afternoon shift change voiced concern that the question of scheduling longer shifts had not really been settled. Several said they should have stayed on strike longer to ensure this company demand is pushed back.
More than 900 of the 1,300 production workers at the two plants are union members. During the strike, Wheland brought in hundreds of scabs. According the USWA Local President Tony Troutman, only 35 union members crossed the picket line during the strike and pickets turned away many potential scabs.
TWA pilots picket airline in St. Louis
ST. Louis - On July 2 members of the Airline Pilots
Association International (APLA) who work for TWA picketed
in front of the airline's ticket counter here. St. Louis is
TWA's domestic hub, with some 375 departures every day.
TWA refuses to discuss wage increases for the airline pilots. An ALPA flyer distributed at the July 2 picket line explains that TWA pilots have given up over $600 million in concessions in recent years and taken pay cuts of more than 50 percent.
Since the end of June TWA pilots have organized seven informational picket lines at the airline's corporate offices in downtown St. Louis and at the airport. Many pilots are refusing to fly overtime hours beyond the 70 hours per month required. This has led to as many as 30-40 flights being canceled a day.
The contract of the mechanics ramp workers and cleaners organized by the International Association of Machinists also expired in September of 1997. They say they make 60 percent of what is earned by workers at other airlines.
The 4,200 flight attendants at TWA, also members of the IAM, threatened to stop flying on Boeing 757's by July 1 unless the crews on these planes were increased. The union said that it was unsafe to fly with the smaller crews. On June 13, an agreement was reached that requires TWA to pay a $10 per hour "understaffing penalty" in addition to the regular hourly pay for crews flying on the 757s.
Susan LaMont, a member of USWA Local 2122 in Fairfield, Alabama; Alyson Kennedy, a member of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union in Chicago; and Ray Parsons, a member of USWA Local 310 in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this column.