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Post Strike Letter to Government Officials

September of 2009

Dear Mr. President Obama:

    We the proud and skilled musical instrument builders of America desperately need a voice on our cause to simply be heard.  The former rank and file of UAW 364 recognizes your good work toward the exploited, trodden, and disadvantage labors often performed so close to our site of war against both corporate greed and union hierarchy ineffectiveness.  Our company Vincent Bach division of Conn Selmer, under the leadership of Steinway Corporation and CEO Dana Messian has systematically, ruthlessly and unjustly destroyed the music manufacturing diversity of your beloved city of Elkhart Indiana.

Good Faith Bargaining

Defined by § 7114(b)

     This law states Steinway has a duty to approach negotiations with a sincere resolve…properly authorized representatives who are prepared to discuss and negotiate on any condition of employment, as frequently as may be necessary to avoid unnecessary delays and in particular Steinway is to furnish data necessary to negotiate.

^{http://www.opm.gov/cplmr/glossary/glossaryg.asp}

    Our local union officer’s are prepared to discuss and show to you how miserable Messiana has defaced the laws you are sworn to uphold.  Our company Steinway failed to bargain in good faith, our UAW union filed unfair labor charges with the NLRB but we did not hear the specifics on why our union complaint failed.

“Totality of Conduct”
  NLRB test of good bargaining

    CEO Dana Messian is guilty of making trivial concessions if any at all, this he proclaim to investors during his internet phone conference claiming that the new proposal gave really few changes to the intended contract first proposed. Messian’s negotiators failed the “Totality of Conduct” by insisting on continuing past practices such as Kaizen, hourly pay and out-sourcing.  Company negotiators disregarded counter proposals and often did not even keep them to consider properly.

    Finally repeated requests from the union representative for data justifying the companies need to slash wages 25 to 50 percent and move production overseas was ignored. ^{Office of Personal Management United States}

Forced into an Economic Strike Nobody Wanted?

    “A company that subcontracts in order to maintain its economic viability is probably not required to bargain first, bargaining is mandatory if the subcontracting is designed to replace union workers with cheaper labor. “

Introduction to Business Law By Jeffrey F. Beatty, Susan S. Samuelson

     According to Introduction to Business Law we could have chosen to strike simply because Steinway did not provide evidence of their poverty in producing student line horns here in Elkhart.  This kind of strike would have been named an “Unfair Labor Practice Strike” in which the replacement workers would be dismissed and all union workers would reclaim their jobs.  However our union failed to give that option to its members through education, newsletters, or holding regular union meeting for questions to be asked.  ^P.age.319

The Labor-Management Reporting and disclosure Act
The duty of fair representation requires that a union represent ALL members fairly, impartially and in good faith

   Our union did not treat all members equally under the law:

Boulwarism

    Nearly all rank and file would agree the proposals changed little over the three handed down contracts given to committee to take to workers.  Our company engaged in Boulwarism by sending a letter of intent to stay by the initial proposal without compromise in the subsequent facade of bargaining meetings.

    The company prepared “sham discussions” instead of “genuine arguments” for the necessity of oversea production.  During the labor dispute Conn Selmer contracted with E.K. Blessing in town to produce the TR301 using current striking UAW members. We have verifiable proof the consultant to E.K. Blessing confirmed they were paying top wages ahead of what was offered to the striking workers and then were able to charge more to Conn Selmer for the work done.  This was a profitable venture for Conn Selmer and therefore proof Messian was engaging in an unfair labor practice.

     Second HR Larry Knight called workers and/or bargained with workers who made contact for other reasons, in order to sell the initial proposal of master planner Dana Messina, both of these are Boulwarism and are illegal under the law!

   Dana Messina sent negotiators with little authority to make decisions at the table, engaged in surface bargaining, and stringing out the meetings by offering only a handful over the three year effort.  ^{National Labor Relations Act Section 8(a) (5).}

Permanent Strike Replacement Workers

“In general, an employer may not offer employment to permanent replacements on better terms than it has offered to the union” ^{Management Attorney JEREMY P. SHERMAN}

      It is our understanding that Steinway paid replacement workers $24.00 dollars an hour while the top proposal offered was $21.00 an hour; the lowest offer was top pay of $18.00.  Mr. Sherman says, “Permanent replacements can only be hired if a strike is deemed an “economic strike” and furthermore, “an economic strike can be “converted” into an unfair labor practice strike at any time during the labor dispute.”

   Gettelfinger held from us the opportunity to guide our own destiny; he therefore should be called upon to answer for the failure of losing the workers struggle in light of the UAW record of winning 7 out of 7 decertification votes in the first three quarters of 2007 directly before our lose.

    “As long as there is an understanding between the company and the replacement worker that the worker will not be replaced after the strike is over… Employers should monitor carefully all written and oral statements made to candidates for strike replacement workers to ensure their status as permanent replacements”, Cathlin Sullivan and James J. Sullivan, Jr., ^{October 8, 2007}

    The company’s relationship with the replacement hires’ was that of temporary, such that these workers were not participating in the production of product for the company.  It was not until later that Messina decided and forced such workers to accept permanent status as part of the ever changing plan.  Therefore it is doubtful they should retain their jobs once the workers decide the strike is over.

     Michael Yates writes in; Power on the job: the legal rights of working people, “These former strikers must be offered any openings in the bargaining unit which exist at the time the strike ends and in the future.”  The company said in its letter (after decertification) to UAW 364 that they would not retain UAW workers past one year who were not being recalled. Is this not a form of discrimination which the law would oppose?
________________________________________________________________________

    In conclusion our questions may be uneducated but we did the best we could with what we had.  Our fate, as well as those who will be affected by our lose rest in the compassionate interest of your benevolence.  We know your heart is a part of Elkhart and we ask that you come back to visit if not in person then by the spirit of solidarity Pope Benedict called for in his recent “Charity in Truth”

… In many cases, poverty results from a violation of the dignity of human work, either because work opportunities are limited (through unemployment or underemployment), or “because a low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a just wage and to the personal security of the worker and his or her family” ^{Paragraph 63}

In the spirit of solidarity of all working poor,   

Brothers and Sisters of UAW 364

Enunciated by Ronald Czarnecki

Elkhart, Indiana

Aspects of Strike for Lawyer Consideration

What were looking for are discovery, investigation and advice on what our options are. 

Questions and aspects that need answers

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How did the Conn Selmer Strike come to an end?

1. November 7, 2007 a vote was held to decertify the union at Vincent Bach which was initiated by one worker inside the plant.
   
   
2. November 8, 2007 Having a high number of contested ballots is not unusual, Patricia Nachand, assistant to the board's regional director said, when such a vote comes at a point in a strike where replacement workers have been hired (truth is 140 are union strikers)
   
   
3. December 4, 2007 after the uncontested votes were counted, Conn-Selmer needed 51 more votes in its favor to remove union representation from the Vincent Bach plant while the union must get 94 votes.
   
   
4. December 12, 2007 The company focused on 20 union members who quit Vincent Bach while on strike in order to collect their 401(k)s, said Robert Allen, UAW Local 364 president. Conn-Selmer contends the votes from these strikers should not be counted but the union is pointing to a policy agreement reached prior to the strike that allowed laid-off workers to collect their retirement without losing their place on the seniority list.
   
   
5. December 14, 2007 The UAW maintained such workers could not have replaced anyone on the strike line because they took only their former jobs and not any different positions.
   The union attorney, Robert Hicks, also mentioned discrepancies in payroll records and employee histories that Conn-Selmer turned over to Local 364 prior to the hearing, Allen said.
   Union members have been reviewing those documents for three weeks and, Allen said, have found mistakes in all the records.
   
   
6. February 16, 2008 A hearing officer at the NLRB's regional office in Indianapolis recommended 42 of the challenged ballots be opened and counted in the decertification vote.
   When the unchallenged ballots were counted at the end of the evening, 105 called for an end to union representation at the Bach plant and 63 requested it be retained.
   The union withdrew its challenge to the four votes made by workers inside the plant that it had originally opposed. Consequently, now a total of 46 ballots could be opened and counted. 
   If that is true, Local 364 would pick up 42 votes, pulling even with the company's 105.
   63 (union) + 42 (contested)=105 (company's total)
   If those crucial four votes split, that would leave both sides deadlocked with 107 votes each.
   
   
7. April 20, 2008 The attorneys representing the United Auto Workers Local 364 and Conn-Selmer, parent company of Vincent Bach, submitted their rebuttal briefs in March to the NLRB in Indianapolis, said Robert Hicks, a UAW attorney. Both sides are arguing over which votes from the decertification should be counted.
   
   
8. December 25, 2008 Robert Hicks, the attorney representing Local 364, echoed union members who say that the board is not fully staffed and will not review the Vincent Bach strike until all the empty seats are filled.
   
   
9. April 15, 2009 The federal NLRB ruled on :
   Robert said the vote at the federal NLRB was 107 to 113 the company won.  If the judge allows the extra 8 votes to be counted we need 7 of those votes if it’s a tie we lose
   
   
10. July 31, 2009 Wilma Liebman and Republican Peter Schaumber made the decision that the first two votes they looked at were permanently replaced workers (according to Robert Allen).
    
    
11. There was no need to look at the other remaining 6 votes, Union decertified.

From 2005 to 2006 80/20 plan there is a 7% increase in payroll contributions.
From 2005 to 2008 80/20 plan there is a 27% increase in payroll contributions.

From 2003 to 2008 80/20 plan there is a 211% increase in payroll contributions.
From 2003 to 2008 70/30 plan there is a 266% increase in payroll contributions.

Core plan 80/20 (Old)
Office visits $10 co-pay       Prescriptions $10/$15/$30

Core Plan 80/20 (Proposed)
Office visits $30 (Primary)/$50 (specialist) co-pay       Prescriptions $25/$35/$55

Reasons for Negotiations

1. Perhaps the most important reason is the fact that EK Blessing is acquiring striking workers. At $20 pay whether you work for Conn Selmer or EK Blessing, adding to that the hostile management at Conn Selmer verses the family atmosphere since 1982 when I worked there, I doubt workers would want to come back.  Also top pay offered at Conn Selmer in last and best final offer is $16.
2. The plan was to make student horns of top quality by using the talents of those actually striking against the company.  So excited was Steve Rorie (consultant to EK Blessing) in the interview he explained the plan was to run third shifts and build new building.  With this in place there would be no need to negotiate for they had a steady supply of high quality horns they could pass off as scab labor.
   Rumor is that this all came to an end.
3. Manning (UAW insurance for local 364) suggested today (7-23-08) the fear the company has is the unfair labor charge defeated by labor board is not dead, actually (unknowing to Allen) has been appealed and in possibly four years will result in fines of millions of dollars.
4. Patricia Clark (UAW REP to 364) said today (7-23-08) it’s because the decertification won’t happen till November, then will be backlogged, and possible defeated.  Meanwhile the company has to continue paying scabs and crossover initially hired only to scare the rank and file. In a years time if they just settle they could be producing professional horns. Heating cost are some $60,000 per month.
5. Orders are down; professionals are telling their students to look at other models.  .
6. The repair dealers that would always come through on tours?  Well now when they come through they see the strike huts and ask, “Are any skilled craftsman working inside?”  They don’t want horns that they will have to fix later, if they can, when they come back from the customer.  Talk of this is in the forums. (Which you can not use)
7. Steinway has to pay back a loan by 2014, the investors are probably considering getting UAW strikers back in and up to speed, reclaiming market share, getting orders back in, this will probably take one to two years, that leaves fours left to make the payment.
   S&P revises ratings for Steinway July 7, 2008 4:53 PM ET  
   http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20080707&id=8865346
   “S&P raised its issue-level rating on Steinway's 7 percent notes due 2014 to "B+" from "B." A "B+" rating is a "junk-bond" rating four notches below investment-grade status.” 
   Their running out of money, the article credits with long history of skilled UAW craftsman for not letting the rating get any worse.  “Somewhat offset by Steinway's established market position”.
8. Successful Boycott by Carl OHaver (Past president of UAW 364), New York, Chicago and Los Angeles Musician Unions still onboard.
9. Internet Chatter some boaster by striking members.
10. You tube video “Anniversary Strike Video”
11. Pat Meyer pushing buttons in Washington. Yes Pat Meyer and LAWS knocking on so many doors in Washington for the local union probably invoked members in Washington to at least advise Steinway officers to watch their step.

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