Kohler Co., a Wisconsin-based company that specialized in kitchen and bath plumbing fixtures, furniture and tiles, engines and generators as well as golf and resort, is currently facing a challenge since its employees have planned to launch a protest after rejecting the company's latest offer. During Sunday's membership meeting, 94 percent of Kohler workers were in favor of a strike.
On Sunday, almost 1,800 Kohler Co. employees have gathered at Sheboygan South High School for a membership meeting where they overwhelmingly approved a strike. According to FOX News, United Auto Workers local 833 president Tim Tayloe said the union has two major concerns: pay and increased insurance costs.
The union president, who represents over 2,100 Kohler Co. employees, also added the workers have taken issue with an inadequate pay increase, higher health care costs and the continuation of a two-tier wage that pays newer employees less. Kohler Co., on the other hand, has called for three raises of $0.50 each or about two percent annually for most of its workforce. The proposal, which was called as the company's "last, best and final contract offer," upturned healthcare costs but included a $1,200 bonus, which the 142-year-old company claimed could cover the increase, NZ Herald noted.
"The strike officially begins now," Tayloe said.
In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Kohler Co., which is currently headed by a fourth-generation member of the family, said it was disappointed with the union vote. However, it pointed out that the company has unspecified plans prepared to continue production.
"A work stoppage like this will unfortunately cost our associates and can negatively influence our desire to grow jobs in this location," the company said. "It is a fair offer for all that continues to maintain local jobs above the region's norm, supports continued permanent job growth at our Wisconsin operations now and for future generations and ensures all associates are financially ahead each year of the contract term."
Meanwhile, the union has started preparing for a possible protest since last week. The Standard Times reported that they have ordered portable toilets for protesters and have gathered burn barrels to keep them warm.
The latest Kohler workers' strike, however, is not the first for the company. As a matter of fact, the 1983 Kohler strike at Kohler lasted for 16 days before it was settled. In the late '50s, the UAW struck the company for six years in a bitter dispute, which was considered as one of the longest strikes in American labor history. While in 1934, a bloody and tense strike transpired at Kohler factory after it opened fire on rioting, stone-throwing workers, leaving two men killed and 47 others injured.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
