(FALCONER) – Union Representatives From Across Western New York Joined With Their Southern Tier Counterparts Late Today (Wednesday, December 3rd) to Take Part in a Major Solidarity Rally That Was Held Outside RHI Monofrax’s Plant in Falconer in an Effort to Focus Public Attention On a Strike That is Now in its Ninth Week.

A Total of 150 Workers, Represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and National Conference of Firemen and Oilers Local 266-F - an Affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Walked Off the Job On September 29th After Rejecting the Company’s 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.  According to the IAMAW, RHI Monofrax Wants the Workers to Agree 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.  The Company’s Also Insisting On Freezing the Defined Benefit Pension and Replacing it With a Standard Matching 401k With Far Less Value, the Unions said.

“Workers in ‘Every’ Factory in This Area Know ‘Corporate Greed’ is a ‘Contagious and Deadly Disease’ and ‘Shame’ On ‘Any’ Employer Who Puts Affordable, Quality Health Care ‘Out of the Reach’ of Working Families,” Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President David Wilkinson, Who Also Serves as Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106, Told Those at the Rally. 

“And ‘Extra Shame’ On a Company That’s Based in a Country Where Health Care is Considered a ‘Human Right.’  ‘Shame’ On a Company That Imposes a Contract That Raises Deductibles and Co-Pays From Zero to ($10,000) Per Year and ‘Claims the Right’ to ‘Raise Both of Them – at Any Time They Want Without Bargaining With the Union.’  ‘Shame’ On a Company That Imposes a Contract That Destroys Seniority, Freezes Pensions and Takes Away the Right to Progressive Discipline.  ‘Shame’ On a Company That in the Twenty-First Century Decides it Can ‘Solve All of its Economic Problems On the Backs of its Workers,” he said.

Continued Wilkinson: “These Men and Women are Fighting for Themselves and Their Families.  But This Isn’t Just ‘Their’ Fight.  ‘Their Fight Is Our Fight!’  And Our Politicians Better Take Note - the So-Called Economic Recovery Since 2008 Has Been a Recovery ‘Just for the Richest One Percent of Americans.’  They’ve Gotten (95%) of the Increased Income.  The U.S. Government and Our Lawmakers of ‘Both Parties’ Had Better Take Note Too!”  RHI Monofrax Has a ($2.88 Million) Contract With the U.S. Department of Energy.  We Will Not (Allow) This Company (to) ‘Brazenly’ Attack the Livelihood, Dignity and Health of These Working Families.”

Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz Traveled From Buffalo to Jamestown to Speak at the Rally: “Workers Do Not Take the Decision to Go Out On Strike ‘Lightly.’  We’re Looking to Join This Fight and Get Them Back to Work.  This is Just ‘Another’ Example of ‘Another’ Company That ‘Does Not Care’ to Provide the ‘Basic Needs’ for Those Who ‘Work for Them’ and Who Help Make Money ‘for’ the Company.  (Western New York Labor is) Looking to Join This Fight and Get Them Back to Work.”

Lipsitz Told WNYLaborToday.com in a Telephone Interview Before the Rally That the New York State AFL-CIO Labor Federation Was Also Sending a Message “That it is Standing With These Workers Here in Jamestown.”

According to Area Media Reports, Company and Union Representatives Were Scheduled to Meet Before Today’s Rally Under the Watchful Eye of a Federal Mediator.  Little Progress Has Been Made in Two Previously-Held Bargaining Sessions, Union Reps said.

In a Story Published by WNYLaborToday.com On October 5th (Contract Negotiations Set To Resume On October 15th Between Striking RHI Monofrax Workers Represented By The IAM & SEIU In The Southern Tier), an IAMAW Representative Told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper That RHI Monofrax Was 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 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,” the IAMAW Rep said. 

In Addition, the IAMAW Union Official said There Were 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.” 

The Affiliated Unions of the Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council Were Joined at the Rally by Several High-Ranking Officials From Both the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers and the SEIU Who Had Also Traveled to Falconer to Take Part in the Labor-Sponsored Event.

“The Company’s Been Hiring Replacement Workers and it Haabor-Sponsored Eventted or Not.the Rally That te AFL-CIO Was Also Sending the Message at the Rally " Told Your On-Line Labor Nes Been Ugly,” Jamestown Labor Council President Wilkinson Told WNYLaborToday.com During a Telephone Interview Prior to the Rally.  “We’re Hoping to Bring Public Awareness to the Situation On Behalf of the Workers, Who’ve Gotten ‘Nowhere’ With the Company in Their Negotiations.”

On a Related Note, the Jamestown Labor Council Used the Rally to Help Collect Non-Perishable Food Items for the Less Fortunate That Will be Distributed to Needy Individuals and Families During the Upcoming Holiday Season.