Ohio: Kongsberg Automotive Holding locks out USWA workers, hires temp. workers and the fear of global environment

Workers at the Kongsberg Automotive Holding facility, formerly known as Teleflex, have been locked out by the company after failing to approve a contract which asked for deep pay cuts and increased health care costs, not much more information is known aside from the fact that the company has been bringing in replacement workers.

From TimesBulletin.com (4/01/08) :

Contract negotiations between Kongsberg Automotive Holding, formerly known as Teleflex, and the 328 United Steel Workers employed at the Van Wert facility took on a more ominous tone on Tuesday.

A labor contract offer, which was given to union representatives last Friday afternoon, will be voted on by the employees tonight at 8 p.m. The president of the United Steel Workers local, Aaron Collins, was informed on Tuesday by Kongsberg officials that if the union does not ratify the contract as offered, union employees will be locked out of the facility starting at 10 p.m. tonight.

"Knowing what they're going to do doesn't help the vote, and it doesn't hurt the vote's chances," said Collins. "I just want everyone to know what is going on before we decide."

The issues remaining between the two sides involve deep pay cuts, pension plan changes, and health insurance costs.

Apparently the members did not ratify the contract, heres more info from From TimesBulletin.com (4/04/08) :

VAN WERT - The first full day of the lockout at Kongsberg Automotive saw no changes in either labor or management positions. Workers who voted down the auto parts manufacturer's contract offer stood just off company property with picket signs. Meanwhile private security remained on site at the facility to make sure the locked out workers stayed out.

Early in the morning hours, windows at the facility were boarded up and private buses began bringing in replacement workers to make parts for considerably less wages than the locked-out employees.

Meanwhile city officials expressed their hope for an early end to the lockout. "I just hope the union and company management can get this worked out," stated Nancy Bowen, Van Wert County economic development director. "I think everybody feels the same. We'll do anything we can do to help, and I've let the company know that."
Read More

Which leaves us with the latest news from TimesBulletin.com (4/05/08)

Picketers from the local United Steel Workers union watch as replacement laborers leave the Kongsberg Automotive facility in Van Wert. State and local officials met with Kongsberg management on Friday in an effort to bring an end to the lock out.

Meeting Held with Kongsberg Automotive Lock out continues despite effort

State and local officials met with Kongsberg Automotive representatives today to convey the importance of the plant to the local, regional and state economy and to express the desire to work with the company to retain and expand the plant in Van Wert County. Officials also expressed the desire to maintain open lines of communication with the company while they work to resolve labor issues and maintain their customer base.
(continued)
Company representatives assured state and local officials that they are committed to the Van Wert facility and want to increase the productivity of the plant to attract new work and stay competitive in a global environment.

Wheres the story about the workers? How many are involved? It seems evident that this company is trying to break the union.

The line "stay competitive in a global environment" about sums it up as far as what Free Trade has done to the workers in the United States, while the Clinton administration sold us the first of which, NAFTA, under the promise of it bringing up the workers in Mexico, and with the continuance of such "Free Trade" agreements in the Bush Administration creating this "Global economy", has done exactly the opposite, they have pitted the 3rd. world workforce against us as a bargaining chip.

Over 470 textile mills have relocated to places where workers make about $60 a month. While the corporate media urged consumerism amongst the citizens, and banks with the encouragement of the Fed gave out mortgages to those who couldn't afford it and Big Boxes such as Wal-Mart through Lobbyists and anti-union campaigns sold you the idea of lower prices. We are now entering this brave new third world.

This is not a recession, this is an adjustment into the global economy, and when you need to place the blame, you should only get as far as the mirror, for your allowance to be mislead and letting big business know matter of factly by your purchasing foreign products, that you didn't give one shit about American jobs. So now lie in your beds, you helped to make them.

Now the administration is jamming the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, which Hillary's campaign chief strategist Mark Penn has an involvement through his law firm and has been in meetings with ambassadors of that country, is being jammed down our throats.

It's not too late to sway this, you have to get involved. Say no to the Colombian Free trade Agreement

Act Now! Click Below!!

Thanks to Omaha Steve at Democratic Undergrounds' Labor section for the initial story

and to Jason Lefkowitz at the Change to Win WebBlog for the Hillary campaign info

Caving in to the publicity, Wal-Mart drops suit against disabled former worker Deborah Shank

Wal-Mart caves in to bad publicity

This is a follow up to "Wal-Mart wins "Worst person in the world"" posted on 3/31/08, which detailed the case and was originally posted on the Change to Win WebBlog by Jason Lefkowitz on 3/27/08

From USA Today (4/01/08):

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is dropping a controversial effort to collect over $400,000 in health care reimbursement from a former employee who is confined to a southeast Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The world's largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance.

Deborah's husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. Family lawyer Maurice Graham of St. Louis said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

"It's a good day for the Shank family," Jim Shank said in a statement.

Businessweek continues (4/1/08) :

Pat Curran, executive vice president for human resources at Wal-Mart Stores U.S., wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance.

Deborah's husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. Family lawyer Maurice Graham of St. Louis said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

"It's a good day for the Shank family," Jim Shank said in a statement.

Wal-Mart has been roundly criticized in newspaper editorials, on cable news shows and by its union foes for its claim to the funds, which it made in a lawsuit upheld by a federal appeals court.

Insurance experts say it is increasingly common for health plans to seek reimbursement for the medical expenses they paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.

The practice, called "subrogation," has increased since a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that eased it.

Wal-Mart's Curran said the retailer was required by the rules of its plan to seek reimbursement from the Shank's settlement. But she said the case has made Wal-Mart revise those rules to allow for flexibility in individual cases.

"Occasionally others help us step back and look at a situation in a different way. This is one of those times," Curran wrote in the letter.

Shank, 52, lost much of her memory and ability to communicate or walk in a crash between her minivan and a tractor trailer in May 2000. Her family sued the trucking company and won $700,000. Court records show that after attorney's fees and costs, the remaining $417,477 from the settlement went into a trust to care for Shank.

The fund now has about $270,000, the family said.

Shanks' health insurance was through Wal-Mart, where she worked nights stocking shelves. After the Shanks won their lawsuit, Wal-Mart sued the Shank family to recover medical costs totaling about $470,000.

Wal-Mart won its case and subsequent appeals by the Shanks that went as far as the Supreme Court, which closed legal avenues this month by declining to hear the case.

During the case, the Shanks also lost one of their three sons when Jeremy, 18, was killed in Iraq last year while serving in the Army.

The case put a spotlight on the growing use of reimbursement claims by health plans, experts say.

Roger Baron, professor of law at the University of South Dakota and a specialist in health-plan law, said health plans have become "very aggressive" about subrogation since the 2006 Supreme Court decision.

"It's free money. They want the free money," Baron said.

Lynn Dudley, vice president for policy at the American Benefits Council in Washington D.C., said the negative publicity around the case was beginning to draw the attention of lawmakers who might want legislation to stop or limit subrogation.

"Capitol Hill is paying attention," Dudley said.

Baron said Wal-Mart's size -- it is the nation's largest nongovernment employer, with over 1.3 million workers -- means that its willingness to compromise in an individual case may have a wider impact on reimbursement practices by other health plans.

"I'm so pleased to see an element of reason because so much of this subrogation has been about just blindly going after the money," Baron said.

Capitol Hill should be paying attention.

Wal-Mart wins "Worst person in the world"

From the Change to Win Blog (3/27/08):

So saith Keith Olbermann on his nightly news broadcast on MSNBC, Countdown:

The St. Louis Post Dispatch has more:

The family of a Missouri woman must reimburse Wal-Mart for nearly a half-million dollars in medical expenses now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review her case.

The court on Monday let stand a ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis requiring Debbie Shank of Cape Girardeau County to pay nearly $470,000 to Wal-Mart.

The appeal was the last legal recourse for the family of the 52-year-old Shank, a mother of three who was critically injured in a car accident eight years ago. She suffered a brain injury that took her memory and left her with very little ability to move or communicate. She has lived in a nursing home since she was released from the hospital...

Her family later settled a lawsuit with the trucking company whose driver was involved in the accident. After attorneys' fees and expenses, $417,477 was put in a trust for Shank's care. That settlement money, plus $51,739 that Shank will have to pay out of pocket, must be paid to Wal-Mart.

Note to corporations: when even the raving socialists at the Wall Street Journal ask if you're overreaching, you're doing something wrong.

Note to everybody else: If you want to help the Shank family, you can make a donation via Wal-Mart Watch to help cover Deborah's medical expenses.

Posted by Jason Lefkowitz on March 27, 2008