Three weeks after the local Omnova strike began, company officials and union representatives have yet to go back to the negotiation table.
The strike began after the United Steelworkers Local 748-L and Omnova officials were unable to negotiate a contract acceptable for both entities.
The contract, which is up for renewal every three years, expired May 15. Omnova workers voted 168-2 to decline the company”s final offer and go on strike.
Omnova”s Columbus plant is the primary plant for commercial wall coverings.
Sandi Noah, communications director for Omnova Solutions Inc., earlier clarified the state of the market impacting business.
Production volume has decreased by 45-80 percent over the past five years; those figures encompass “all of the end use categories for our wallcovering and functional coated fabrics markets in total,” she explained.
Commercial wallcovering is down 45 percent, while coated fabrics, used in transportation, marine and contract furniture, are down anywhere between 48-80 percent, “depending on the end use.”
The plant is being run by salaried workers and augmented by outside temporary workers, she said.
Omnova”s Columbus plant employs 259 people, 174 of which are hourly wage workers, and is one of the area”s top 12 employers.
According to the company”s website, Omnova employs about 2,300 people in America, Europe and Asia.
Locally, Omnova estimates it has a $23 million annual impact on the economy in taxes, wages, salaries and payments to local vendors.
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