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The eBearing News
August 2, 2004
Timken and Steelworkers
Open Canton Plant Negotiations
copyright © 2004 eBearing Inc.
After a cooling-off period, allowing strident rhetoric to die down and the unwanted public eye to
shift away, The Timken Company (USA) and the United Steelworkers of America have agreed to
sit down and negotiate in earnest.
At stake are the fates of three Canton-area bearing manufacturing facilities and 1,300 jobs. Timken announced
in early May the three would be shuttered because they are no longer competitive within the
Timken organization.
• article: Timken may close three Canton-area bearing plants
The three plants are Canton Industrial Bearings -- sitting next door to corporate headquarters, Gambrinus
Industrial Bearing, and Gambrinus Roller Bearing. Canton was built in 1901, the two nearby Gambrinus plants were
built in 1929.
An unexpectedly high level of attention met the announcement, as it became a rallying point for politicos,
protectionists, anti-trade activists, labor leaders, every presidential candidate, and the usual
cadre of issue-chasing, microphone-obsessed pundits. In an area that supported President Bush in the last
election, they wasted no time trying to portray the issue as what it was not -- a juicy problem of labor
and management at loggerheads over key touchstone campaign issues in Ohio, considered a
key state in electing the next president.
NOTE: eBearing is regularly contacted and referenced by a wide variety of pop news and
political organizations. However, eBearing remains a neutral
resource, advocating and dedicated to the world bearing industry. Any other use or reference is
out of context. Our criticism of the pop
media attention is here.
Many experienced industry and labor watchers told eBearing they believe this surprise spotlight caused both
organizations -- unaccustomed to and unprepared for the situation -- to immediately dig in their
heels. Publicly standing down would have meant losing face and
negotiating power, quite possibly on the evening news across the United States.
This two month hiatus has allowed time for the outsiders to move on, following the political media circus to
other parts of the country. Meanwhile, Timken and the Steelworkers
both were able to shake off the leg irons, sit down and pursue the situation as the business issue it truly is.
In a joint statement, Timken and the United Steelworkers said they, "have agreed to enter early formal
negotiations over the current labor contract, which expires in September 2005. The current contract
includes associates in steelmaking operations in the Canton district, in addition to the
company's bearing plants in Canton."
The most likely outcome, according to several labor union negotiators contacted by eBearing, is the
bargaining unit contract will be split between bearing plant and steel plant workers. Both Timken
and the Steelworkers, they point out, are far different organizations than when the joint bargaining unit
was set up, as are the competitive environments in which they both operate.
Summing up, the joint statement said, "Consistent with prior practice, there will be no further
comments until discussions are completed."
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- by Bruce A. Carr
from individual research,
tips and commercial sources.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
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eBearing.com ... for everything that moves™
Entire contents Copyright 1999-2008, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered
trademarks of eBearing Inc.
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eBearing.com ... for everything that moves™
Entire contents Copyright © 1999-2008, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered trademarks of eBearing Inc.
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