USW Local 2-232

formerly PACE 7-232

Representing  employees at Briggs & Stratton Corp. and Strattec Security Corp. in Milwaukee, WI

President's Report

By Greg Gorecki (From Local 7-232 Reporter)

 Grievances Mount at Strattec

            At Strattec our grievances continue to mount. We have one grievance heading to arbitration on March 29, 2000 regarding the interpretation of the 21-day rule for issuing discipline for attendance. We have at least 6 more headed to arbitration and another 6-10 that we are trying to discuss with the Company to resolve before they have to go to arbitration.

Strattec Union & Management to Attend Joint Conference in April

            Next month the Union leadership and the Company will attend a conference in Chicago put on by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. (F.M.C.S.) At this conference there are different workshops and success stories about how union and management can get over some obstacles that prevent problems.

Seasonal Cut-Back Shuts Down Assembly Line

            The Company has informed me that the Green Line (L1) will reduce its orders temporarily from approximately 1450 per day to about half that due to a seasonal order lag. This will be effective April 7, 2000.

            The Company explained this by saying that the orders increased rapidly instead of a gradual pick up when that line increased production, in the same manner, the orders dropped quicker than it normally would. Subsequently, the machining department M1 will also be cutting back on all 3 shifts. M1’s production will drop from 1600 per day to approximately 1000-1100 per day. The Company stated they felt confident the 2nd Shift line would go up again, but they could not commit to an exact date.

 Model 9 Jobs will Bring Back Most Senior on Layoff First

             The Model 9 engine line that is being brought back is supposed to start up on May 15, 2000. This will require about 49 assemblers, which would bring back the most senior people that are on layoff at that time.

            Several calls to the office expressed concern about recall. The most senior people on layoff, be it voluntary or involuntary, will be brought back when the department they were laid off from picks up.

 M1 Call Back Slower

             The fact that M1’s production will only drop 5-600 per day, will cause them to have some inventory of stock when the 2nd Shift line does go up. Therefore, when the 2nd Shift line goes up, M1 operators will not be brought back as soon as the assembly goes up.

Die Cast Division

             There are still many issues surrounding the D.C.D. These problems range from pay inequities, piecework jobs that have gone one for over a year without being timed, to management removing the chairs from the work areas. The Bargaining Committee plans to keep addressing these issues with the management until we can make some progress that will make working conditions more acceptable for our members.

 Daywork Plan

            Our Daywork plan has so many outdated write-ups. We now have so many jobs that have changed and become more technical that we have asked the Company to sit down and address our Daywork System. The one glaring issue is our skilled trades and a couple of jobs that should be considered skilled that we would like to have addressed as soon as possible. We continue to lose our skilled help at an alarming rate and it is essential that we have quality skilled people to run our plants efficiently.