AUSTINTOWN Tamco workers approve contract

The 21 Tamco employees now working approved the pact unanimously, but it will affect future workers too.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Recalled workers at the Tamco Distribution Center on Victoria Road will see their paychecks increase between 16 percent and 23 percent over the next 41/2 years under a new union contract with Snyder's Drug Stores.
The 21 employees working at Tamco unanimously approved the 54-month union agreement negotiated by Teamsters Local 377, but the pact will cover other workers as they are recalled or hired.
Minnesota-based Snyder's has renamed the center Western Wholesale Distribution Co. Snyder's said it plans to bring the warehouse work force up to 100 in the near future and will draw first from the roster of Tamco employees laid off when Phar-Mor closed the center in July. The drugstore chain said it will eventually employ 200 at the Austintown facility.
The new contract calls for starting wages ranging from $12.50 to $15.75 per hour, with five increases over the life of the 41/2 year agreement. With the increments, workers will see their pay increase between 16 percent and 23 percent by the end of the contract period.
Robert Bernat, secretary treasurer of Local 377, said the agreement also provides health benefits at no cost to the members and a 401(k) plan. Snyder's will match employees' 401(k) contributions at a rate of 50 cents on the dollar, up to 6 percent of the employees' pay.
Recalling workers
Atty. Daniel Shapira of Pittsburgh, who represented Snyder's in the talks, said the company is recalling workers daily and is moving inventory to Tamco from another warehouse in Kansas City, Mo. He said the starting wages are "similar [to] or slightly less" than what Tamco workers were making before the Phar-Mor closing.
Snyder's has a 10-year lease agreement for the Tamco building with Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, which owns the warehouse. Officials have said the center will be fully operational this month.
Shapira, who also represented Giant Eagle in its efforts to land a lease agreement with Snyder's, praised Bernat for his persistence in bringing the drugstore chain to the Valley. "Without his leadership, Snyder's would never have picked this location," he said.
The new Teamster-Snyder's pact is the second approved by Tamco workers this year.
About 250 warehouse workers approved a two-year contract extension last summer when Snyder's was looking to operate Tamco and to buy six of eight area stores that bankrupt Phar-Mor was closing.
That agreement became moot, however, when Snyder's lost its bid to buy the stores.
vinarsky@vindy.com