Longtime employees at Omnova”s Columbus plant say the strike is not about money; it”s about integrity.
Workers have been on strike since Friday afternoon. And they are prepared to stay on strike “as long as it takes” to retain benefits and incentives programs in place for decades, said Ronald Crowe of Millport, Ala. Crowe has worked at the plant for 38 years.
But drastic changes are needed at the Columbus plant, which operates under “very depressed conditions,” according to Sandi Noah, director of communications for Omnova Solutions.
In Columbus, “we need significant improvement in worker flexibility and operational costs,” Noah said, declining to offer specific details of the proposed contract.
Workers at the union office, across Yorkville Road from Omnova, said the proposal would take most of them back to their pay grades from decades ago.
“They”re just asking for so many Draconian steps backward in our contract,” Crowe said.
“They put a proposal on the table they knew would put us out here on the street,” he added, wielding a sign that said “Unfair Labor Practices.”
“I already make less now right now than I did when I was hired. That”s now. That”s before this,” added Jerry Aldridge of Kennedy, Ala. He has worked at Omnova for 22 years.
“It appears from the day I started, certain things on the job, I had. And now they want to take it away from me,” said Jimmy Lanier, a 43-year veteran with Omnova. Lanier lives in Columbus. “It”s just unfair,” he continued. “It appears they are not concerned about the prosperity of the company by the way they treat the employees.”
Omnova is an incentive-driven plant, workers said. With the proposed changes, incentives, retirement packages and seniority all would be stripped.
“It”s not about the money,” said Louis “The King” Trull of Kennedy, Ala. “It”s about tearing the plant down.” (Trull earned the nickname King after winning a production contest at the plant.)
Along with incentives, shift rights and seniority rights are on the chopping block, according to Trull, who has been with the company for 42 years.
“It”s not about the money,” Trull reiterated. “It”s about destroying 42 years of hard labor, trying to run a factory. … Our philosophy statement says that employees are our No. 1 resource. Our creed says enthusiastic employees make happy customers. Do we look happy? We”re out here when we should be working.”
“The only thing we”re asking for is a fair deal,” agreed Derek Sherrod of Columbus, a 22-year veteran with Omnova. “We”ve put a lot of time in here at the plant, and we don”t feel they”re offering us a fair deal. … We just only want an honest day”s pay for an honest day”s work.”
Position consolidation and massive job cuts have been proposed, Sherrod noted.
“They are saying that the business level is low … We believe that the business is on an upturn,” he added.
Omnova does not disclose production numbers for competitive reasons, but for the past five years Columbus plant volumes have been down 45-80 percent for commercial wall covering and major coated fabrics, according to information posted at the website betterfuturecolumbusplant.com.
While Omnova made gains in 2009 from “new products, company cost reduction actions, and facility process and cost improvements,” the company maintains the Columbus plant did not contribute to the progress due to “high costs and uncompetitive work rules.”
Jay Lawrence, the local union president, said they are willing to negotiate, but the company has frozen them out.
“They say they can”t be competitive with the contract, and we disagree,” said Lawrence, adding the union asked for no changes to the contract they”ve had for 40 years.
“We are committed to getting a contract ratified,” Noah said, noting the agreement must be fair to the company and its employees.
Meanwhile, the company has activated its strike contingency plan to keep the Columbus plant running.
Union members voted Wednesday 168-2 to strike, marking the first strike in four decades, according to Lawrence.
“We”ll try to man the gates 24 hours, until this is over,” he said.
The last strike at the local plant lasted three months.
“We”ve always had a relationship with managers where we”ve tried to work things out,” said Gene Gore, who has worked for Omnova for 43 years. “This guy (Tob Coss) comes in and wants to change things we”ve struggled with for years.”
Coss, director of operations for Omnova, is acting as plant manager for the Columbus site.
The plant is incentives-driven, and employees are self-directed without much supervision from management, Gore added.
“The last thing I said to them before I walked out was, ”If you have to try to run these machines, be careful and don”t get hurt,”” Gore said. “I feel for them. I really do.”
Trull is more concerned about the customers depending on Omnova products.
The Columbus plant produces materials used in production of Jeep tops and furniture, he noted: “They depend on us for business.”
Omnova Solutions Inc. is prepared to hold out, as its more than 170 hourly workers strike.
The strike began on Friday at 3 p.m., after the Steelworkers Union Local 748-L declined the company”s “final offer” May 15 after weeks of negotiations.
Omnova, one of the area”s top 12 employers, had about 380 employees in 2009. Now, the Columbus plant operates with 269 — 174 hourly wage workers and 95 salaried employees.
“The company is doing everything it can to make the Columbus plant more competitive and avoid such an extreme event,” a website statement says about the possibility of closing the Columbus plant.
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