(FALCONER) - The National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NFCO) Local 266-F - an Affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - Has Filed Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Charges Against RHI Monofrax, Alleging the Company is Actively Encouraging its Union-Represented Workers to Abandon Their Strike and Return to Work.

In Addition, Dean DeVita – Who Serves as NFCO Secretary-Treasurer and Director of Commuter/Passenger Railroads – Tells WNYLaborToday.com This Week That the Company is Telling the Union That More Than 20 Replacement Workers it Has Hired During the Course of the Three-Month-Old Strike Are Now Considered “Permanent Hires,” Which Potentially Places in Jeopardy Union Jobs Once The Strike Comes to an End.

“Basically, the Company is Calling the Workers, Asking That They Abandon the Picket Lines and Come Back to Work – and We Have Members Who are Willing to Testify to That,” said DeVita, Who Added the ULP Charges Were Filed With the National Labor Relations Office (NLRB) in Buffalo Late Last Week.  “We’ve Also Charged the Replacement Workers are Harassing and Threatening Our Members On the Picket Line and We Have a Police Report to Back That Up.  We’ve Also Charged the Company With Refusing to Reinstate Our Members After They Failed to Accept a Company Proposal and as ‘Reprisal’ for Their Decision to Strike, as Well as Engaging in a ‘Contrived Scheme’ to Hire the Replacement Workers to Defeat the Strikers’ Right to Reinstatement as a Result of Their Protected Activities.”

A Total of 150 Workers, Represented by the NFCO and the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), 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 Unions, 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.

Union Representatives From Across Western New York Joined With Their Southern Tier Counterparts in Early December to Take Part in a Major Solidarity Rally That Was Held Outside RHI Monofrax’s Plant in an Effort to Focus Public Attention On the Strike.  More Than 300 Took Part in the Rally, Which Was Spearheaded by the Jamestown AFL-CIO Labor Council and Heavily Supported by the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation.

In an E-Mail Message to Striking NFCO Members, DeVita said: The NCFO Legal Team Filed Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against RHI Monofrax.  As You Well Know, After Months of Intense Negotiations, We are in the Third Month of a Strike.  Every Time Progress is Made Across the Table, RHI Abruptly Throws Gasoline On the Fire.  They Continue to Create a New Firestorm at Every Bargaining Session.  We Believe We Have Strong Charges in Regards to Various Violations Which Have Occurred.  Continue to be Strong and United!  The Position That You as Our Members Have Taken is What the Labor Movement is All About!

 “Our Members are Basically Being Punished (for Not Accepting the Company’s Last and Final Offer),” NFCO’s DeVita Told WNYLaborToday.com.  “We Have No Future Negotiations Scheduled and They Won’t Remove the Replacement Workers, Which They Now Claim are ‘Permanent’ Workers.”

DeVita Disputed RHI Monofrax’s Claims That Their Contact Offer to Unionized Workers Was the Result of “Not Making Any Money.” 

“They Can’t Make What They Make ‘Anywhere Else’ and With Energy Costs Dropping, the ‘Bottom Line’ is This Company is ‘Making Money,’” he said.

On Another Front, the Union Has Now Begun to Turn Toward the Elected Community, Most Notably Federally-Elected Officials, for Help in Ending the Strike - in Light of the Fact RHI Monofrax’s Largest Customer for What it Produces is the U.S. Government. 

DeVita Told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper the NFCO Will Make Lawmakers Acutely Aware of Not Only How the Company is Treating its Workers, But the “Dangerous” Working Conditions Inside the Southern Tier Plant. 

“It’s a Dangerous Place to Work in,” DeVita said.  “A Number of Our Members Have Lost Fingers.”

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More On the RHI Monofrax Strike, Read Your On-Line Labor Newspapers December 3rd Labor News Story Headlined: Calling Corporate Greed A “Contagious And Deadly Disease,” WNY Labor Unites Outside Jamestown For A ‘Solidarity Rally’ In Support Of Striking RHI Monofrax Workers