Union says striking KC-area ammunition plant workers ‘dug in for the long haul’
Negotiators with a local machinists union have met with leaders of Olin Winchester’s Lake City Army Ammunition Plant twice since workers went on strike earlier this month.
But they say the company refuses to offer a “fair package” for its workers with better wages and improved working conditions. At this point, leaders said, workers with IAM — International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — Local 778 are also fighting for a better work-life balance where they’re not required to work mandatory overtime in some areas of the plant.
“Members did not walk off the job because they wanted to,” said Brian Bryant, IAM Union International President, who spoke Thursday during a virtual panel of union leaders and workers. “They walked off the job because Olin Winchester gave them no other choice. No fair wages, no paid sick leave, no relief from forced overtime and no respect on the job.
“... Our members are dug in, and they’re dug in for the long haul, and as long as they’re standing strong, the IAM will be here standing with them throughout this whole process.”
Since Monday, The Star has left multiple messages for the administration office at Olin Winchester; those calls have not been returned.
About 1,350 workers with IAM Local 778 have been on strike since midnight on April 4, when their contract expired. Workers voted to reject a new contract that leaders said the company described as their “last, best and final offer.”
The facility in Independence produces ammunition for military and personal rifles, according to online descriptions of the plant.
Sam Cicinilli, IAM Union Midwest Territory General Vice President, said the Lake City plant is the “single largest producer of small arms ammunition for the armed forces.”
“They supply the majority of rounds used by the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps,” Cicinilli said, “as well as critical ammunition to our NATO allies and partner nations, whose regional stability depends, in part, on the U.S. exports.
“Our members have been making ammunitions for the U.S. military while Olin Winchester’s executives pocket government subsidies and refuse to pay a fair wage and give them the time off to spend with their families. That’s just unacceptable. It’s an insult to our members.”
It’s also an insult, Cicinilli said, “to every American who believes in national security as well as human dignity.”
Pay and work-life balance
Striking workers are walking in four-hour shifts and have been on the line round-the-clock since the strike began. Local 778 held a solidarity rally on Saturday.
Among the issues workers face, union leaders say, is low pay. Entry level wages range from $20.60 an hour to $21.75.
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And though union negotiators have met with the company twice since the strike began, there’s been no real movement, said Scott Brown, directing business representative for IAM Union Local 778, who also spoke during the virtual panel discussion Thursday. And no other meeting between the union and company has been scheduled, Brown said.
“We’ve told the company repeatedly, ‘We’re ready to get back to work,’ and consistently, there’s no other offer,” he said. “There’s been no other offer since the day we walked out. The meetings we’ve had have pretty much been meaningless.
“ ... They have sent the message to us since the strike began, well, before this strike began and after, that they’re not willing to move on the economics whatsoever,” Brown said. “They talked about shuffling the deck and moving some stuff around to try to make the package a little bit better, but that hasn’t even happened.”
Another major issue, union members say, is the need for better work-life balance. In some parts of the plant, workers face mandatory overtime, having to work 60 hours a week.
Travis Bradford, who has been at the Lake City facility for nearly 20 years, was also a part of Thursday’s virtual panel. He said he and “a lot of other people” have been working the overtime for 3 1/2 years or more.
“I’ve missed going on vacations with the family and all kinds of stuff,” Bradford said. “It’s kind of a blur at that point when you do nothing but work, and we want to be compensated for that, if nothing else. I mean, we’re going to be working that much overtime we’d like to at least get something for it.
“And they don’t even want to meet us half way.”
Vaughn Cochran has worked at Olin Winchester for about 10 years. In the last 3 or 4 years, he said, the company “really started hitting us with the overtime.”
At first, he said, “it was optional.” Then it turned into “we’re going to force everybody for 60 hours and on,” Cochran said. If someone takes a day off, they still need to get in their 60 hours, he and others said.
“There were multiple times that I ended up (working) 13 days in a row,” Cochran said. “And it’s like when you’re doing 13 12s it really wears on your body, and we all deserve better than that.”
‘A nationwide fight’
During Thursday’s virtual panel, Bryant, the IAM Union International President, spoke directly to the Local 778 members employed by Olin Winchester.
“This is not a local fight,” Bryant said. “This is a nationwide fight. The full weight and resources of our international union are deployed right here, right now, here in Independence, Missouri. “
“And when I say the full resources, I mean our rapid response and mobilization department is on the ground. Our legislative and political team is working on Capitol Hill, and here in the state of Missouri, our communications team is making sure the world knows what Olin Winchester is doing to these workers is flat out wrong. We are not standing on the sidelines. We are here to get the best contract that our members deserve, and we, by God, are going to get that contract for these members.”
The strike in Independence is about more than a contract dispute, Cicinilli said.
“It’s about who we are as a country,” he said. “You got to ask yourself, do we stand with the workers who make the bullets that defend our freedom, or do we hand blank checks to the executives who treat them as disposables?
“We are united, and we are not leaving until Olin Winchester bargains in good faith.”
