Regal Beloit workers end strike and return to work to bargain to save plant
After two months, striking Regal Beloit workers have agreed to return to work so the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2018 can bargain to try to save the 109-year-old Valparaiso factory and more than 170 jobs.
The union and Wisconsin-based company reached an agreement that 110 striking hourly workers, who hit the picket line for better pay and more affordable health care on June 30, will report back to work Tuesday so the two sides can negotiate Regal Beloit's decision to close the plant and try to maintain some work in Valparaiso.
The International Machinists Union also is appealing to the White House to intervene after Regal Beloit's announcement that it will close the longtime Valparaiso factory. The plant once made golf clubs and electrical safety products and switches, but now makes bearings for the aerospace industry, including military helicopters.
Regal Beloit made a deal to acquire the longtime community stalwart McGill Manufacturing in 2014. Workers there agreed to concessions, including mandatory overtime on weekends, during the last round of collective bargaining when the company was struggling. This time, the union had asked for 75-cent per hour raises and $15,000 out-of-pocket healthcare maximums as a starting point in negotiations and went on strike after the company said it had made its final offer, not meeting the union's demands.
The international union is now asking President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to urge the company to reconsider the closure of the plant.
Read more: https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/regal-beloit-workers-end-strike-and-return-to-work-to/article_b14297ce-4cc9-5ff8-9d1e-1919522590d6.html
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