KME workers reject bid to form union
Employees at Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. in Nesquehoning have against organizing as a union by a wide margin.
During a vote last week, approximately 80 percent of employees voted to reject a bid to be represented by Teamsters Local 773.
The company’s 423 full- and regular part-time production and maintenance employees had been considering joining the local. But out of the 396 employees who cast ballots in the vote, only 78 said they were in favor of organizing.
KME Vice President/General Manager Brian Connely said he could not comment on the vote until National Labor Relations Board certifies the results.
An organizer with Teamsters Local 773 said more than 200 employees signaled they wanted a vote on unionization by signing an authorization card to petition for a union vote. But he said an “unprecedented” number of employees — about 130 — changed their mind before casting ballots.
The organizer, Brian Taylor, said KME gave all employees a $1 raise after they filed their petition, and promised to look into improving health care.
The employees who voted in the election came from a wide range of jobs including assemblers, drivers, electricians, machine operators, mechanics, painters, plumbers, welders and inspectors.
Taylor said they make less than comparable employees at Mack Trucks in Lehigh County, despite doing more skilled labor.
As an example, he said there are two employees each with 40 years experience who just had their pay increased to $21 an hour, while the average employee at Mack, which is represented by the UAW, makes $26 an hour.
“These are highly skilled people,” he said. “They really know their job and they’re quite underpaid for what they do.”
KME, which was founded in Nesquehoning in 1946, was sold to REV Group in 2016.
The union has filed two charges of unfair labor practices with the NLRB as a result of their organizing efforts. It alleges that KME terminated two employees who were part of the effort to organize employees. Taylor said the company cited points for absenteeism as the reason for their termination, but there are other employees with the same number of points who haven’t been fired.
“You’re picking and choosing who you will discipline at point levels where other people you’re not,” he said.
Taylor said even if the NLRB found wrongdoing and ordered another election, he believes the outcome would be the same as last week’s vote.
With the vote, the employees can’t have another vote to unionize in the next 12 months.
Comments
Mr. Taylor i don't think the workers there at KME understand or ever will what a Union would mean and could do to benefit them. I think you are fortunate to realize now that 130 people out of the 200 that signed up would have probable been scabs, you know scum off the other workers shoes, if they would have ever vote to strike when the contract expired and the negotiation committee would have worked in vain.