Hundreds of union workers, supporters join picket line in strike at KC-area ammo plant
.jpeg "Union workers at Olin Winchester’s Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence have been on strike since April 4 at midnight. Leaders say they are fighting for a “fair contract” with higher wages and a better work-life balance where employees are not required to work excessive mandatory overtime in some areas of the plant.")
Hundreds of members of a local machinists union arrived on the picket line before sunrise Monday demanding their company, Olin Winchester, return to the bargaining table.
After more than two weeks on strike, workers with IAM — International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — Local 778 showed up in solidarity, said one union leader, because they are dedicated to what they do. Family members and supporters of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant workers joined them Monday morning in their fight for a fair contract, leaders said.
“Our members .... they are committed,” said IAM Local 778 Directing Business Representative Scott Brown in an emailed news release. “Not just to this fight, but to the vital work they do every day. ... Our members want to get back to work. We are ready to negotiate. But it takes two sides willing to find a fair, common ground.”
About 1,350 workers with IAM Local 778 at the Independence plant have been on strike since midnight on April 4, when their contract expired. The union is fighting for a “fair package,” leaders said, with higher wages and a better work-life balance where they’re not required to work mandatory overtime in some areas of the plant, having to work 60 hours a week.
For the past week, The Star has left multiple messages for the administration office at Olin Winchester; those calls have not been returned.
Striking workers are walking in four-hour shifts and have been on the line round-the-clock since the strike began. Among the issues workers face, union leaders say, is low pay. Entry level wages range from $20.60 an hour to $21.75.
Strike at Olin Winchester
Negotiators with the machinists union have met with Olin Winchester leaders twice since the strike began. But in a panel discussion last week, IAM leaders said the company had not agreed yet to another meeting.
“It takes two sides willing to find a fair, common ground,” Brown said. “It’s time for Olin Winchester to treat this workforce with dignity and come to us with a decent offer.
“This company has the means to support its workforce fairly, but chooses to invest in stock buy-backs worth $1.35 billion and keep their CEO’s pay at nearly $10 million,” he said. “It’s corporate greed, plain and simple. Olin Winchester needs to get back to the table with an offer that respects that reality.”
The facility in Independence produces ammunition for military and personal rifles, according to online descriptions of the plant.
In the virtual panel discussion last week, union leaders described the Lake City facility as the largest producer of small arms ammunition for the armed forces.
“They supply the majority of rounds used by the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps,” said Sam Cicinilli, IAM Union Midwest Territory General Vice President during the panel. “As well as critical ammunition to our NATO allies and partner nations, whose regional stability depends, in part, on the U.S. exports.”
In Monday’s news release, IAM leaders said despite “growing profits,” Olin Winchester has failed to “offer compensation or working conditions that value workers’ contribution.”
“The company likes to remind us how valued we are for ‘working together’ to support the warfighter, but expects us to make the sacrifices in our shared mission, like working years of excessive overtime or accepting substandard pay,” said IAM Local 778 Bargaining Committee member Janice Zehnder, in Monday’s news release. “The company sure isn’t making any sacrifices, and they definitely aren’t keeping CEO pay low.
“We are not asking for a lot here, especially when you look at how well the company is doing.”
