Bye, bye Mercury manufacturing jobs

850 manufacturing jobs are leaving Fond du Lac and union members ultimately have no one to blame but their leadership.

First they made the stupid decision to reject the contract proposal.

Sunday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 voted by what it called a wide margin to reject contract concessions that could have saved more than 800 manufacturing jobs and may have brought more employment to Fond du Lac.

As a result of the vote, Mercury says it will move much of its manufacturing over the next 36 months to Stillwater, Okla., where it has operated a plant for 30 years. (Source – Mercury Marine union in Fond du Lac rejects pact – Milwaukee Journal Sentinal)

Then some union members started having buyers’ remorse, while union leadership said a 2nd vote wouldn’t happen.
With hundreds of jobs on the line at Mercury Marine, the stress is beginning to drive a wedge within the union.

“70 to 85 percent of the people that go by us are signing their names, so there is definitely a lot of interest,” union member Rick Schmidt said.

Schmidt spent the day circulating a petition to urge union leaders to call a second vote. 250-some workers have signed, many assuming a Tuesday meeting between the company and union would change the contract.

Local union leaders looked into the possibility of another vote but say union rules prevent members from voting on the same contract. The company says this is its best and final offer.

The union’s lead negotiator Dan Longsine wouldn’t go on camera but tells FOX 11 around district leaders told him around noon on Thursday a second vote is not an option. All district leaders would say is no comment. (Source – Union says no to second Mercury vote – Fox 11)

Friday led to a rally and calls by union members for proof that a 2nd vote couldn’t be held.

Some workers at Mercury Marine held a rally Friday night in support of a second vote on contract concessions from the company.

The workers tell us they have now learned that there is nothing the union’s by-laws that prevents a second vote. Union leaders have been saying that there could not be a second vote without substantial changes. (Source – Mercury Marine employees hold rally – TMJ 4)

And the union leadership started calling for new negotiations.

“These workers and this community deserve more than a rushed process with an artificial deadline that failed to deliver a solution that worked for everyone,” Philip Gruber, an IAM Midwest territory vice president, said Friday in a statement.

“We are prepared to meet anytime, anywhere with this company to create a proposal that fairly addresses the needs of this company and the future of this community,” Gruber said.

“The presence of a company-imposed deadline and last-minute changes are what doomed their proposal to failure,” Gruber said. “We owe it to everyone involved, this company, its workers and this community to allow such decisions to be made without a gun held to their heads.” (Source: Mercury Marine union calls for new talks – Milwaukee Journal Sentinal)

As Owen at Boots & Sabers points out this is leadership going into CYA mode.

The company has already made it clear that they have had all of the negotiations they are going to have.  This is merely an effort by the union leadership to try to redirect blame to the company.  They can go to their “brothers” and say, “see!?!?  We said we wanted to negotiate but the evil capitalist company REFUSED!  The UNION is looking out for you!”

This CYA mode continued Saturday when suddenly at the 11th hour the union announced a 2nd vote.

Rollie Chase, IAM Lodge 1947 union negotiator, said plans were to run a vote from 10 p.m. to midnight and continue Sunday and Monday to allow members time to vote.

Chase said at about midnight Saturday that Mercury Marine sent a letter to union leaders that if votes were not tallied by midnight, Mercury Marine would deem that as a rejection. (Source – Union blames the company for failed tally – FDL Reporter)

Keep in mind the deadline for accepting the offer was 11:59 PM Saturday.

“Midnight is the deadline,” said Steve Fleming , director of communications for Mercury Marine, about 11 p.m. “That means that voting, counting and notifying the company must happen before midnight.” (Source – IAM Lodge 1947 gets 2nd vote on Merc contract offer – FDL Reporter)

So the union leadership knew full well that a 2nd vote wouldn’t matter. But that’s not stopping them from placing blame.

“(Merc) had no intention of staying here,” IAM Lodge 1947 President Mark Zillges said. “They wanted to leave and this is what they did again. We can’t run an election on a two-hour notice and be fair to any of these members.”

Well Mark maybe if you hadn’t waited until the last minute to hold a 2nd vote, it could have been completed and results given to Mercury BEFORE the deadline.  You and your leadership at higher levels could have held this 2nd vote earlier in the week instead of pulling the strawman argument of bylaws preventing such a vote from taking place.  There is NO ONE to blame here other than union leadership for 850 manufacturing jobs leaving Fond du Lac.

But there are sure to be union members that will unfortunately drink the kool-aid being given to them by IAM leadership at the local and district levels.

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• No Change in Mercury Marine Offer (maciverinstitute.com)
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• Union Know’s Best (berrylaker.blogspot.com)
• Mercury Marine contract expires (fox11online.com)

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