Union votes no to contract changes

FOND DU LAC -  

After a two hour meeting at Fond du Lac High School, more than 800 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Workers Union 1947 in Fond du Lac, voted by secret ballot on some proposed changes to the union contract.

"I voted no," Steve Wiskow told FOX 11. Wiskow has worked for Mercury Marine for 33 years. He was one of what the union said is an overwhelming majority of members who voted the contract down. Union leaders refused to release the details of the vote.

"I have to look out for my fellow employees and people that are laid off right now," Wiskow said. "I don't think it's fair."

Union leaders said the proposal included a wage freeze, benefit cuts and a wage cut for laid-off workers who are brought back to work.

"I'm gonna go ahead and back them and see what I can do for them," 38-year employee Mike Schmitz told FOX 11 after the vote. "I'm not gonna sell them down the tube either."

Union leaders said that's not the only problem with the proposal.

"This language means a lot to these people," union president Mark Zillges said. "It's 50 years of arguing over and they just want to strip it away and that's nuts."

Zillges said the company proposed way too many changes that had nothing to do with the economy.

"What they did to the management clause is re-write it so basically they can do anything with you, any time of day, any weekday, any day and we can't argue," Zillges said.

"These are the things we felt we needed to have to have been able to deal with a totally different marine business and marine environment than we've had in the past," Mercury Marine President Mark Schwabero said.

Over the next two years, Schwabero says hundreds of jobs could leave Fond du Lac. Mercury is planning to consolidate much of its Fond du Lac operations with an expanded facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Schwabero said the Fond du Lac facility will continue to operate for now under the terms and conditions of the existing contract, which expires in 2012.

"It's just the reality of the business world today," Schwabero said.

The union sees it differently.

"We're willing to work with the company," union negotiator Russell Krings said. "We're willing to help them with the things they need but we're not going to give them everything they want."

The company said some of the manufacturing jobs could start leaving Fond du Lac yet this year. As for the future of the company's headquarters, Schwabero said that is a separate decision, which he plans to announce very soon.

The union has a meeting with the company set up for Tuesday. Whether that meeting will still happen is uncertain. The company says it has no plans to re-open the negotiations. The union has no plans to bring the matter back for another vote.