Union leader calls factory closing an attack on union

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(The Center Square) – On Jan. 7, the union representing workers at a band instrument factory in Eastlake, met with the company, Conn Selmer, for what was supposed to be the beginning of negotiations for a new five-year contract.

The union quickly learned negotiations would not be part of the process.

“They immediately let us know that they would not be negotiating,” Robert Hines, the president of United Auto Workers Local 2359, and an employee at the Eastlake plant, told TCS.

Instead, the union was told the company planned to close the Eastlake factory and move production offshore and to other Conn Selmer factories in the U.S., said Hines.

The company said the Eastlake factory lost $6 million last year and that the company could make $7 million by moving the work elsewhere, according to Hines.

Under its contract with Conn Selmer, the union had 14 days to come up with ways to save the factory, such as agreeing to wage cuts, Hines said.

“They gave us basically 14 days to figure out how to save $13 million,” Hines said.

The company told the union that wages would have to be cut to $7 an hour to be profitable, Hines said. The current wages at the factory range from $18-$33 an hour, said Hines.

Eastlake is the only union factory within the company, Hines said.

“It feels like an attack on the union, honestly,” he said.

Money is not the only issue, Hines said. Eastlake is home to the workers, many of whom don’t want to move.

“We weren’t even fighting for wages so much as we were lifestyle, quality of life,” he said.

The 150 employees at Eastlake were not offered jobs at other factories within the company, Hines said.

In a statement, Conn Selmer said the “tentative” decision to close the Eastlake plant will improve our competitiveness and better meet today’s market demands.”

The company said the closing will streamline U.S. operations by consolidating professional brass manufacturing in Elkhart, Indiana and percussion manufacturing in Monroe, North Carolina.

“We remain deeply committed to U.S. manufacturing, as we have been for more than 150 years,” the company said.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hines’ statements about the Jan. 7 meeting with union members.