Via The Union Advocate: Union Laborers On Strike In Minnesota To Protect Pension Benefits
(SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA) – Union-Represented Workers at a Concrete Products Manufacturing Facility in Shakopee, Minnesota have Gone Out on Strike, Pledging to Walk the Picket Line until Cretex Companies Abandons its Attempt to Strip Workers of their Pension Benefits.
The Union-Represented Workers at Cretex’s Shakopee Facility Manufacture Manhole Covers, Sewer Pipes and other Concrete Products.
Since Negotiations on a New Contract for 38 Members of Minneapolis-Headquartered Laborers Local 563 began in January, Cretex has Refused to Budge from its Proposal to Quit Making Contributions to Workers’ Pensions, Local 563 Representative Steve Buck said.
“We have told them we have No Interest in Getting Rid of our Pension, and they Continue to Bring that forward as the Key Piece of their Contract Package,” Buck said. “They’ve Dug In.”
In response, Workers Voted to give their Negotiators Authority to Call a Strike if Cretex made No Movement toward a Compromise in Negotiations. Members Walked off the Job on June 19th.
The Company’s Proposal would Reduce Employees’ Compensation – including Pension Contributions – by about $4 per hour, according to Local 563. That’s the Equivalent of a 12% to 17% Pay Cut at a time when Demand for Construction Materials is on the Rise, the Union said in a distributed Press Release.
Cretex has been Successful in Eliminating Pension Contributions for Workers at Facilities in North Dakota and Iowa, and Buck said he expects a Prolonged Fight in Shakopee, where Local 563 has Represented Construction Craft Laborers since 1986.
On the Picket Line, Jesus Sanchez Jr., who began working at Cretex a year ago, said he and other Workers were Prepared to Strike “as long as we have to.” Retirement is a Long Way Off for Sanchez, but he called the Company’s Attempt to Eliminate Pension Contributions a “Slap in the Face” of his More Experienced Co-Workers. “I’m here to Support the Other Guys who have been Working here so long,” Sanchez Jr. said. “They Don’t Deserve It and They Know It.”
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