Unionized Sumco Workers Reject Deal
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowUnionized workers at Indianapolis-based Sumco Inc. have voted to authorize a strike after rejecting a three-year contract offer. United Steelworkers Local 1999 says health insurance cost increases would have outweighed the contract's proposed wage hike.
February 25, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — On Saturday, February 22, 2014 members of United Steelworkers Local 1999 Unit 10 who work at Sumco, LLC on the city’s west side voted 62-0 not to accept a new 3 year contract offered by the company. The members also voted 62-0 to give the Union Bargaining Committee authorization to initiate a strike action against the employer.
The company's final economic offer included a 35 cent wage increase in each year of the contract, a second tier wage scale for new employees and a cost sharing increase for health insurance. The proposed health insurance cost sharing would have changed the employee weekly contribution to a percentage of the total health insurance premium. The change would have resulted in at least a 32% increase to the weekly contribution for employees with family coverage creating a negative wage impact to them. Depending on the amount of the premium increase in the second and third years of the contract the change could also result in a negative wage impact for the lower tiers of coverage. The health insurance plan already requires the first $3000 in health care costs to be paid out of pocket by employees.
The members at Sumco, LLC have been working without a contract since their collective bargaining agreement expired at the end of January. The members took an accept or reject vote on an identical contract proposal on February 8, 2014. The proposed contract was rejected by a vote of 62-1.
Sumco, LLC is located at 1351 South Girls School Road, Indianapolis. United Steelworkers Local 1999 represents 65 hourly employees at Sumco, LLC. Sumco, LLC has been a leading supplier of reel to reel electroplated products to the automotive, electrical, commercial and solar industries for over 30 years.
United Steelworkers Local 1999 located at 218 S. Addison St., Indianapolis represents approximately 3000 employees at 13 facilities located in Central Indiana. We represent workers in a wide range of industries including producing residential gas furnaces, Gatorade, bearings, roller chain, corrugated boxes, envelopes, electroplating, aluminum extrusions, aluminum anodizing, lead recycling, petroleum, chemicals and commercial fans.
Source: United Steelworkers Local 1999