In a drive to increase productivity, Mitsubishi, which ranks ninth in auto sales in the United States, cut its union workforce at this plant by 500 workers two years ago and the number of labor hours to assemble a car from 40 to less than 24.

In the recent contract negotiations, Mitsubishi had demanded further concessions that would have eliminated four annual paid sick days, forced the workers to schedule an additional week of their vacation during the annual plant shutdown, and compromised seniority protection in job assignments.

"They should not have been surprised," said Eva Kruse, an assembly line worker. "They were demanding too many concessions for us not to strike." Kruse and other workers are members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2488.

Kruse's husband Tony, who has worked at the plant 11years, said there was a wave of anger throughout the workforce at Mitsubishi's demand for new concessions after the workers had already given up so much to make the plant profitable. He described the scene inside the plant the night of August 23 as the old contract expired:

"At midnight, many of the workers, saying 'we don't have a contract,' hit the red buttons, stopped the line, and sat down. The A and B lines, the main production lines, were completely shut down and the workers said, 'We aren't doing any work until we hear from our union.'" Tony Kruse said production was resumed a short time later as union representatives in the plant informed workers that the contract had been extended to 1:30 a.m. when the shift normally ends.

"The key issue is not money," said Justin West, president of UAW Local 2488. "Wages have been good here. We have kept parity with Chrysler," formerly the partner at the plant. The key issues, he said, "are working conditions, safety, and ergonomics. And the question of line speed, with management saying they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want. Mitsubishi's upper management is out of touch with the level of frustration on the shop floor."

Eva Kruse explained why the issue of job rotation and ergonomics is so important: "In the contract before the last one, we had full rotation. That meant you might do 20 different jobs on each shift. This reduces the chances of repetitive motion injuries or getting stuck on a particularly hard job. In the last contract, Mitsubishi reduced the rotation to just two different jobs per shift and the injuries have skyrocketed."

West attributed the company's rapid reversal to the size and strength of the picket lines. "The strike started at 1:30 a.m. on Friday," he said. "I think they were startled by the solidarity of our membership. By 6:00 a.m. they contacted our negotiating committee and said they wanted to withdraw some of their concession demands from the table and asked us to restart the negotiations. Twenty-four hours later we had a tentative contract."

Of the 2,800 members of Local 2488, roughly 2,200 participated in the ratification vote August 26, approving the contract with an 83 percent majority. Under the new contract, production workers' pay will rise from $22.28 an hour to $24.64 by September 2001 and to $27.75 an hour by the end of the contract. They will also get two additional paid holidays. Mitsubishi was able to increase the length of contract from three years to four and the workers will have a $2 increase in their co-pay for prescription drugs.

As he was leaving the ratification meeting, Brad Shepley, an electrician with 13 years in the plant, said, "To have 1,000 people on the picket line and to win a strike in one day brings nothing but confidence to the membership."
 
 
Related article:
'Strike! Strike!' say auto workers in Mexico  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home