ASTRO SHAPES Exec: New workers not replacements
The aluminum extruder says it's determined to keep its customers happy.
THE VINDICATOR
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
STRUTHERS -- Astro Shapes has added workers to keep production up while union members are on strike.
"They are not replacement workers," said Bob Cene Jr., company vice president. "We're using family and friends."
The additional workers are friends of, or related to, the owners and salaried workers, he said. He declined to say how many people are working.
The intent is to use these people only during the strike by United Steelworkers of America 9401 so the company still has customers when the regular workers return, he said.
"We're working 12-hour shifts. We're pulling together, and there's great bonding," he said.
The aluminum extruder has to continue producing because more than half of its business goes to customers who have no other supplier for those products, he said. Astro Shapes officials have worked hard over the years to nurture these customers and don't want to let them down now, he said.
Cene declined to say how much the plant is producing.
He said that no negotiations are scheduled and that he thinks the company's last offer was fair and generous.
Offers audit
He said the company has offered to allow an auditor selected by the Steelworkers to review its financial statements. Cene said union members appear to think the company is more profitable than it really is. Officials are trying to set up a date for the review, he said.
Astro Shapes filed a request Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for an order limiting the number of pickets at the company. Instead of a court order, however, the two sides reached an agreement that would limit the number of pickets to four at each entrance.
Cene said he was going to report to Judge Maureen Cronin several incidents over the weekend. Police said two people were arrested for disorderly conduct and a warrant was issued for criminal damaging related to a car's being damaged with a key.
Union officials could not be reached this morning to comment.
They have said they want stronger contract language to protect jobs from being outsourced to other companies. Cene said that the company's offer includes such language, and that the company doesn't want to erode the union, which has 320 members.
The company's four-year offer also includes annual raises of 40 cents an hour and the continuation of company-paid health care premiums. Union officials say the workers should receive larger raises because they aren't paid enough and the company is profitable. Production workers start at $6.85 an hour, with a top scale of $11.30.
shilling@vindy.com