Immigrant workers strike, shut down R.I. plant
By Michael
Shaw
Pawtucket, R.I.
More than 100 workers at Union Wadding Co. took to the
picket lines April 16 after their four-year contract had
expired. Members of UNITE Local 808T voted 72-43 to strike
due to dissatisfaction with a rise in health care costs and a
measly wage increase in the company's new contract offer. On
the same date in 1987, the union had staged a two-day strike
and shut down the factory.
"The health benefits are the only things they give us
here," striking worker Maria Alves told the Pawtucket Times.
"They don't give us nothing else, except B.S."
Glenn George, president of Local 808T and a receiver at
the company for 11 years, told the Times that company
proposals include: a Blue Cross plan change with a $500
annual deductible per family member for hospital stays, with
no such charge in the expired contract; doubling emergency
room co-pays from $25 to $50; adding $5 to the co-pays for
prescriptions; and a 30-cent hourly wage increase.
Because of the new hospital deductible, "one trip to the
hospital and we lose the whole raise," said nine-year
employee Jaime Guerra.
When Union Wadding Co. Senior VP Louise Bucko was asked
about the labor dispute and its impact on company operations,
typical boss-speak was offered: "We feel we offered the union
a fair package, including a fully paid health care plan." The
company called in the cops once the strike began, and now
cops and company security guards constantly eyeball the
picketers.
George says that the strike has indeed shut the
165-year-old company down, with no trucks crossing a picket
line set up with support from unions throughout the region.
About 20 non-union management personnel continue to report to
work.
Of the 140-member local, about 80 percent are immigrants
from Cape Verde, and over half have worked at the company
over 15 years.
Both sides agreed to federal mediation, which was to begin
April 23. As of the end of April no results had been
announced. The strike rolls on around the clock.
"We want respect," affirmed striker Alves. "It's about
time we show them we're not afraid anymore."
Union Wadding Co. makes air filter materials, Christmas
tree skirts, casket linings and other batting products.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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