Local 600 - President’s Article
The Officers and Agents of Local 600 have continued to stay very busy over these last couple of months, staying on top of the many situations occurring throughout the Local Union.
As some of you may know, Sabreliner Corporation had been struggling over the last couple of years, mostly due to poor management decisions and had built up a great deal of debt; on January 29, 2014 that debt was foreclosed upon by the lenders and the Company was shut down. Nearly 90 of our members were suddenly, and with little warning, out of a job. The assets of Sabreliner Corporation were sold by the lenders to Innovative Holdings LLC. The new ownership moved very quickly to hire a number of the former Sabreliner Corporation employees. The Local Union is now involved in two separate issues: securing the retiree R4 benefits for our eligible members and defending our claim that the new ownership is a “successor” and is obligated to bargain collectively with Local 600.
Through working with Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare and Pension Fund the Local Union was successful in securing the retiree R4 benefit that our eligible members are entitled to receive. If it had not been for a Union Affiliated Health Plan, these long time members would have been left without this invaluable benefit. I want to personally thank Central States Union Trustee, Marvin Kropp, for his assistance in this matter, along with the other Trustees of the Fund who work very hard on our behalf. We are hopeful to soon begin negotiations with the new ownership for a collective bargaining agreement for the newly hired members.
Secretary/Treasurer Scott Gilchrist has begun negotiations with Prairie Farms – Hazelwood; Business Representative/Organizer Dave Eagan continues to negotiate with Truline Corporation to secure a first contract for these newly organized member; Business Representative Dave Bruckerhoff has been negotiating contract renewals for both Huttig Building Products and Contractor’s Cartage (Ste. Genevieve). We will keep you updated on the progress of these negotiations.
I’m happy to announce that during recent National Master Freight grievance hearings we were successful in defeating an improper discharge of one of our long time members, which resulted in approximately $30,000+ awarded to this member for back wages/benefits. This victory, along with many others, show that, although we may be frustrated at times, being a member of a strong, united Union is the only way workers can stand and fight against injustices in the work place.