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Judge Unloads on Comar Orders Runaway N.J. Firm to Pay Millions in Back Wages A federal judge has ordered a New Jersey firm, Comar Inc., to pay at least $4.6 million in back wages to more than 40 USW-represented workers whose division was relocated to a non-union facility in 1999. Paul Bogas, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board, also ordered Comar to recognize the United Steelworkers as the employees agent and to bargain with the union over a new agreement. Comar, which makes packaging products and medical device components, tried to break up the union by moving workers into the non-union shop and violated existing contracts by changing wages, working conditions and benefits, the judge ruled. The company failed to abide by two previous NLRB rulings ordering it to recognize members of the former American Flint Glass Workers Local 519, now the USW, and pay their back wages, he further found. Rock of Gibraltar This time, Tim Tuttle, chair of the USW’s Flint Glass Council, said he expects the government to seek a court injunction to enforce the latest ruling. Comar, however, told employees it will appeal the decision. Enough is enough Tuttle said the back pay owed former and current Comar workers involved in the case is around $4.6 million “with the clock still ticking.” The Bogas decision, dated April 3, 2006, involves Comar’s relocation of its applicator division from Vineland, N.J., to another non-union facility about 10 miles away in Buena, N.J. The applicator division made glass droppers used to dispense liquid medications. Its employees had been represented by the American Flint Glass Workers Union of North America for over 40 years, beginning in 1955. The American Flint Glass Workers merged with the USW in 2003. Local President Won’t Give Up the Fight When Comar Inc. closed its union plant in Vineland, N.J. in 1999 and moved the operation 10 miles away onto the site of an unorganized sister facility, Catherine Guilford vowed to make things right. Guilford, president of the USW local at Vineland, refused to make the move for lower pay and reduced benefits and went to the National Labor Relations Board for redress. Since then, Comar has been repeatedly ordered to pay several million dollars in back wages to dozens of workers wronged by the runaway move. Every month the back wages owed employees grows by about $100,000 and now tops $4 million, according to union estimates. Back pay clock still ticking “The clock is ticking on the back pay,” said Guilford, now 67 and working as a home health aide. “If we’re only owed 2 cents, I want it. They did the employees wrong.” Tim Tuttle, chair of the Steelworkers’ Flint Glass Council, described Guilford as an unwavering “Rock of Gibraltar” during the long continuing struggle to bring Comar to justice. The American Flint Glass Workers Union of North America, now part of the USW, had represented workers at the Vineland plant for over 40 years, beginning in 1955. Guilford said she got involved because the company lied to employees that the operation would be moved intact, like a busy “beehive,” from Vineland to nearby Buena, N.J. Skirting the union was a slap in the face to employees who worked hard and did everything that management had asked, regularly taking on overtime and even painting the facility to make it shine for customers. “That’s why the employees took it so personally,’’ Tuttle said. “There wasn’t a thing they didn’t participate in. They took ownership of the business and the company paid them back by moving the operation and getting rid of the union.” Union busting condemned In his ruling, Bogas criticized Comar for the union-busting tactics it employed. The company illegally withdrew recognition of the union, quickly made unilateral changes that diminished the nature of the unit and delayed compliance with previous unfavorable decisions. Then, the judge said, the company argued that the passage of time and the unilateral changes it made had destroyed the bargaining unit and rendered an earlier bargaining order from the board unenforceable. “If permitted to succeed, such a tactic would provide a template for any employer that wished to unlawfully withdraw recognition from a union,’’ Judge Bogas wrote. Tuttle praised the members of Local Union 591 for their strong support over more than six years of legal maneuvering by the employer. Photo by Craig Matthews “ She is the stabilizing force that kept the unit together for almost seven years,’’ Tuttle added. “If it hadn’t been for Cathy, we would have lost the unit. It would have disintegrated. USW@Work • summer 2006 29 “
Congoleum, Chemtura Workers at two separate industrial facilities – a Congoleum flooring products plant in Cedarhurst, Md., and Chemtura Corp. in Morgantown, W.Va. – have voted to join the USW. At Congoleum, the Cedarhurst employees voted 41 to 18 to join the union, which already represented Congoleum employees at three other plants in Marcus Hook, Pa. and Trenton, N.J. Teamwork made the difference. Leaders and USW members at the three unionized plants all pitched in to help ease the fears of their brothers and sisters at Cedarhurst. “We took the fear away from them by telling them they have a right to organize; they have a right to be a union member,” said Jim Dempsey, a unit president in Trenton. Tip led to groundswell The tip that Cedarhurst was ready for a union came from a truck driver who makes deliveries between the Marcus Hook plant and Cedarhurst, which produces felt backing used on tiles and linoleum made at other facilities. George Piasecki, unit president at Marcus Hook, helped set District 10 organizer Phil Ornot up with a contact at Cedarhurst and, along with other union members, made house calls and helped to distribute leaflets. In two days, 84 percent of the Cedarhurst employees signed cards and Ornot filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board in Baltimore. An election was held within 42 days. Despite the USW’s existing density at Congoleum, the company put on a full-court press to persuade employees Go USW “ There is always a certain level of fear in every organizing drive. Fear is the only tool that companies have,” Free said. “I believe the only thing that will overcome fear is anger. The fear will go away if you are angry enough. That’s what happened here. that they did not need a union. There were captive meetings, one-on-one sessions with management, and threats to close. Both the plant HR manager and the plant manager were fired. “None of this could compete with the credibility of our local union folks, who connected instantly with the workers at the Cedarhurst plant,’’ USW organizing director Mike Yoffee said. Benefit cuts spur vote A majority of 126 production and maintenance workers at Chemtura’s Morgantown plant voted for the union not long after the company announced it would no longer contribute to the employee pension plan. “This all boils down to broken promises. We were promised that our benefits were protected, that our pension was safe. It was not safe,” said Fred Parenti, a member of the in-shop organizing committee. “We knew if we didn’t put on the brakes, this train would keep going and going.” The group almost organized with PACE in 2003, but company officials “promised” employees that their benefits were secure. After workers rejected the union, management made changes to vacation time, health care and seniority. The last straw was the pension. “There is always a certain level of fear in every organizing drive. Fear is “ the only tool companies have,” said USW organizer Waymon Free. “I believe the only thing that will overcome fear is anger. The fear will go away if you are angry enough. That’s what happened here.” Chemtura Corp., workers in Morgantown, W. VA., cast their ballots for representation by the United Steelworkers. 30 summer 2006 • USW@Work
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