KMART Workers give OK to call a strike
Kmart workers want fewer hours and to know when their shifts will end.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BAZETTA -- Workers at the Kmart Distribution Center are ready to strike because of overtime and other issues.
Members of United Auto Workers Local 2901 decided Wednesday by a 95 percent affirmative vote to give their negotiators the right to call a strike at the 500-employee warehouse.
No strike date has been set, and negotiators will be back at the table before the current labor contract expires Monday, said Carman Greene, union president.
Rejected pact extension
The strike authorization vote followed another vote Sunday in which members rejected a 10-month contract extension that included a 35-cent-an-hour raise and a $150 signing bonus.
Greene said his bargaining team recommended approval of the extension, which was requested by Kmart.
Kmart told union officials that negotiating a new contract for the local warehouse and one in Morrisville, Pa., would be a distraction to its efforts to turn around the company, he said. The Michigan-based retailer is trying to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy court protection.
Most workers, however, didn't want to wait until June to settle issues at the plant, Greene said.
Biggest issue
The biggest issue involves overtime, he said. Workers sometimes are on the job seven days a week, he said.
They also are angry about not knowing when their shifts will end, he said. The company says workers must stay until their work is "deemed complete." For example, the afternoon shift Tuesday worked from 3 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Greene said.
The union hopes to resolve the issue with changes in contract language, but the two sides haven't reached agreement, he said.
Greene said the warehouse needs more workers, but Kmart is to bring on 150 workers by Oct. 1 because of the upcoming holiday shopping season. He said he expects most of them to be temporary hires.
Upset about program
He said other issues upset workers, including a 2-year-old program that measures the production of each employee, he said. Workers think the evaluation is being done unfairly, he said.
A few workers have lost their jobs because of the program, and the union has filed grievances to bring them back, he said.
Workers at the warehouse in suburban Philadelphia already have given their union leaders the authority to call a strike. They also voted down the contract extension.
shilling@vindy.com