(FALCONER) – New Contract Negotiations are Set to Resume On October 15th Between Striking RHI Monofrax Workers, Who are Represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 266-F in the Southern Tier Town of Falconer, IAMAW Business Representative Pete Cooney Tells WNYLaborToday.com.

A Total of 150 Union-Represented Workers – Including 14 Employees Represented by the IAMAW - Started Their Strike On September 29th After Rejecting the Company’s Latest Contract Offer.  RHI Monofrax’s Chautauqua County Plant, Which is Located Just Outside Jamestown, Makes Fusion Cast Refractories That are Primarily Used in the Glass Industry.

“It Looks Like We’ll be Back at the Table On October (15th),” Cooney Told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper Late Last Week.  Until Then, the Striking Workers Will Continue Their Picketing, Which is Taking Place at as Many as Three Entrances to the Falconer Plant.  “Morale’s Pretty Good.  A Lot of the Workers are Really Ticked Off,” Cooney said.

According to the IAMAW Business Rep, RHI Monofrax is Insistent Upon the Workers’ Agreeing to Massive Increases in Health Care Costs for a Plan With Far Less Coverage, While Giving the Company the Unilateral Ability to Change Plans and Rates as They See Fit.

“They’re Also Insisting On Freezing the Defined Benefit Pension and Replacing it With a Standard Matching (401k) with ‘Far Less Value,’” Cooney said.

RHI Monofrax is Also Using the Excuse of Remaining Competitive in the Marketplace for Their Contract Offer and “Claiming They Will Have to Move The Business to China,” the IAMAW Representative Told WNYLaborToday.com.

“The Company’s Proposal Would Put Twenty Dollars a Week in the Employees’ Pocket, While Taking an Additional Eighty-Seven Dollars a Week Out (for Premium Share Alone) if They’re On a Family Medical Plan.  And That's Just to Get Them to Where They Can Pay a Fifteen-Hundred-Dollar Deductible (Up From $500 in the Previous Contract).  That Adds Up to a ‘Negative Impact’ of Approximately Eighty-Seven Dollars a Week or More Than Forty-Five Hundred Dollars Annually.  It Makes No Sense and its Ridiculous,” Cooney Explained. 

In Addition, the IAMAW Rep said There are So Many Language Changes in the Company’s Proposal That ‘Negatively Impact’ the Bargaining Unit, Including Some Impacting Work Rules/Disciplinary Policy and Divulging Specific Medication for Each Employee to Comply With its Drug and Alcohol Policy – “Whether You've Been Tested or Not,” he added.