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The eBearing News
May 27, 2005
Timken and Union Reach Contract Accord
Covering Canton Facilities
copyright © 2005 eBearing Inc.
In a joint announcement, The Timken Company (USA) and the United Steelworkers of America Local 1123
declared they are in tentative agreement on a new contract covering workers at
three troubled Canton-area bearing plants and a nearby steel plant.
Insiders told eBearing the basics of the new four-year contract were hammered out two weeks ago; with
the finishing touches now complete and the public announcement made, USWA rank and file still
must meet to discuss and vote on the new agreement later in June.
The contract announcement comes more than a year and a half after Timken and the USWA began
discussions about the three Canton-area plants -- Canton Industrial Bearing, Gambrinus
Industrial Bearing, and Gambrinus Roller Bearing. The two sides made little headway, however.
In May 2004, the Canton plants' situation came to a head when Timken
announced publicly the three would be closed and production shifted elsewhere.
The facilities, they said, are not competitive within its wide international array
of manufacturing options and attempts to negotiate with the union had been unsuccessful.
detailed article: Timken may close three Canton-area bearing plants
Timken's announcement apparently caught the USWA by surprise, prompting an angry and somewhat
contradictory backlash of press releases, claiming or not it had been blindsided.
This set the stage for what became an escalating war of words.
In the meantime, Timken followed up with the announcement it would
begin, "effects bargaining," a first step toward closing the plants.
detailed article: Timken and USWA meet to discuss Canton-area bearing plant closings
The USWA then agreed to open Canton contract negotiations more than a year early -- it is not
set to expire until the end of September 2005.
detailed article: Timken and Steelworkers open Canton plant negotiations
But the situation only got worse for Timken and the USWA when strident but poorly informed outsiders
chose the Canton plant closings to promote their own political agendas during the recent
presidential campaign. To their credit, Timken and the USWA generally declined to engage
the political opportunists and pop media, all now faded back into the woodwork.
article: Timken responds to political attacks on its business practices
The universal agreement again will cover the Canton bearing and Wooster steel plants, an unusual
arrangement but which has been in place for many years.
No details about the contract were released, although the USWA negotiating committee
unanimously recommends
approval. Workers will vote on the contract June 21; prior to the
vote, the USWA will hold a series of member meetings to describe and discuss contract details. If approved,
the new four-year contract will go into effect when the current contract expires at the end of September.
USWA spokesman Dennis Brommer said: "The parties entered negotiations with the intent of saving jobs
in Stark County. To that end, we were successful."
Timken VP of Human Resources, Don Walker, said: "The company is pleased with the tentative contract
and we look forward to ratification. Consistent with prior practice, there will be no further comments
until the union voting process is 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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