AP Online
07-03-2004
Dateline: NEWTON, Iowa
Striking Maytag workers wave to a passing car while working a picket line outside a Maytag production plant, Thursday, July 1, 2004, in Newton, Iowa. Maytag Corporation and the United Auto Workers said Thursday they have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract. The agreement is subject to a ratification vote by union membership. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Union workers at Maytag Corp.'s flagship factories in this central Iowa town voted Friday to accept a new four-year contract.
Dennis Walker, international representative for the United Auto Workers union, declined to release a vote tally.
Mark Krivoruchka, senior vice president of human resources at Maytag, said the company was 'pleased that union members recognized that cost improvements are a necessity in this competitive environment.'
The 1,525 production workers, who make Atlantis, Neptune and Dependable Care washers and dryers, walked off the job June 10 after negotiations broke down. Talks resumed last week and a tentative agreement was announced Thursday.
The workers were to return to their jobs Tuesday. The plant remains scheduled for summer shutdown Aug. 9-22, officials said.
According to details provided by union members, the contract gives workers incentive bonuses based on production and a cost-of-living increase of $450 in 2005, which rises by $50 in each year of the contract to $600 in 2008.
Wages will remain unchanged until June 2007 when workers will receive a 2.5 percent increase, said Local 997 President Pat Teed.
The average Maytag worker in Newton currently earns about $19 an hour, Teed said.
Workers who now have health care fully paid by the company can opt for one of two plans with deductibles, after which the company will pay either 80 percent or 90 percent of the health care cost.
New workers would be enrolled in a 401(k) plan with a company match and a portable pension plan in which they contribute a percentage of their income. They would not be eligible for the company financed pension offered to current employees.
The 401(k) plan is optional for current workers who have the existing pension.
The cheers of workers attending the closed-door meeting at Newton High School on Friday could be heard outside, but many of them left with glum faces.
Ed McCleary, who has worked at Maytag for 27 years, said many workers were unhappy that they will have to pay more for health insurance.
'It's hard to take a step back, but that's what we had to do,' he said.
CEO Ralph Hake had said earlier this year that Newton is a high-cost factory and costs must be reduced if it is to continue to manufacture new products.
'I hope Ralph Hake makes the right decision and keeps new products here in Newton, Iowa,' Walker said.
Asked if the pact offered any improvements in job security, Walker said: 'With this economy, there is no job security.'
Strikers and several few hundred production workers who recently were laid off crowded Friday into the gymnasium at Newton High, the only location in this town of 15,600 large enough to accommodate the crowd.
The last big strike in Newton was in 1971, when workers were out for five months. Workers staged a one-day strike in 1974, essentially waiting a day to ratify a contract, said Ted Johnson, Local 997 vice president.
The strike had been peaceful, with passing motorists honking horns in support. Yard signs proclaiming support for the workers could be seen in front of homes in Newton and nearby communities.
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On the Net: Maytag Corp. http://www.maytagcorp.com
UAW Local 997: http://www.uaw.org
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