Workers Left In Limbo As Temporary Closure Of Monaca Plant Continues
BEAVER COUNTY (KDKA) – What was supposed to be a temporary closure of a local plant will drag on even longer.
A union vote Friday didn't settle an issue affecting hundreds of local workers.
The ballots were counted, the rank and file at Anchor Hocking's glass plant in Monaca voted on concessions for a third time this month.
About 370 employees, represented by the United Steelworkers, were given only 12, instead of a 24 hour notice of Friday's vote.
"We were getting robo –calls," said union worker Lorraine Pearson. "A lot of the union body were not receiving calls."
Still, the 248 that did vote shot down the request for a 7 percent wage cut 128 to 120.
"We work for benefits," said union worker John Wilson. "We work for our families and they're just taking everything away from us."
Anchor Hocking's parent company, Everyware Global, says it lost $38 million in the first quarter. An extension with its creditors is up next Tuesday. To survive, the company is looking for $20 million from New York-based Monomoy Capital Partners, which owns a controlling interest.
Most of these workers have already been laid off since May.
"They have served a legal warn notice with an Aug. 11 shutdown date," said Jim Watt with United Steelworkers International.
"We're not even guaranteed a job if we take these concessions," said union worker Cynthia Russell. "They're not even guaranteeing us we're gonna be there in a month."
"No job is guaranteed 100 percent, nothing is guaranteed 100 percent," said union local finance secretary Marcy Harvey. "And all we can do is hope for the best."
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