(TONAWANDA, NEW YORK) – United Steelworkers (USW)-represented Workers employed at DuPont’s Yerkes plant just outside of Buffalo have overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year contract, which was quickly brought about after a number of disparaging, Anti-Union and racist drawings by management were discovered following a bargaining session.

The final vote was 153-to-38, which was conducted on Friday (September 22nd), USW Local 6992 President Gary Guralny told WNYLaborToday.com today (Monday, September 25th).

USW Local 6992 represents around 340 Workers at DuPont’s Yerkes Plant, who manufacture Corian (which is used in the manufacturing of counter-tops) and Tedlar (which is used in the Airline Industry) Products – both of which are made with the use of toxic ingredients. 

The deal comes just weeks after 20 pages of disparaging, Anti-Union and racist drawings were discovered by USW Reps following a bargaining session – said to be the work of two DuPont Management Employees, who were subsequently fired – which were then distributed to the company’s Unionized Workers at the plant by the USW. 

Several of the drawings also depicted Workers inside the Western New York plant as “lazy,” as well as what Union officials describe to Your On-Line Labor Newspaper as a “racist” drawing of a Native-American, which had upset several Native-Americans employed at the Tonawanda facility that is located just outside of Buffalo.

In a nutshell, USW Officials told WNYLaborToday.com the contract features: A 1.5% wage increase in each of the four-year deal; Both offered health and retirement benefits remain the same; Layoff protection was procured for the entire Unionized Unit at the plant; and the Union was able to bring back five previously outsourced jobs.

“It’s ‘our hope now that we can build a positive Labor-Management relationship here at the plant,’” Guralny told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper. “We ‘have a lot of good hard-working people here who do a good job and hopefully the company recognizes that.’  It’s a ‘dangerous place to work.’  ‘It meant a lot that DuPont removed its outside contractors and is returning work to the Bargaining Unit.’  ‘It shows we’re going in a better direction.’”

“These are ‘uncertain times’ for the company,” Guralny added.  “There will be an ownership change next year and we have a successor clause in our contract, ‘so no matter who does come in, our Members will be covered under this contract, which gives them a lot of peace of mind.’”

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More Read WNYLaborToday.com’s August 8th Labor News Report, Headlined: USW ‘Livid’ With DuPont Negotiators In Tonawanda After Discovering What’s Described As “Disparaging, Anti-Union & Racist” Drawings By Management Officials At The Bargaining Table - http://www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2017/08/08/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/usw-livid-with-dupont-negotiators-in-tonawanda-after-discovering-what-s-described-as-disparaging-anti-union-racist-drawings-by-management-officials-at-the-bargaining-table/