We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is.
/*By Joe Chambers*//* *//*a*//*n*//*d*//* *//*S*//*c*//*o*//*t*//*t*//* *//*G*//*o*//*d*//*s*//*h*//*a*/*/w/*
+
/By Joe Chambers and Scott Godshaw/
Local 7-232 was first organized as Local 232 of the United Auto Workers in 1937. This organizing was done by a group of billing machine operators and supervisors. This was a conservative union that was fairly timid in the early years.
Local 7-232 was first organized as Local 232 of the United Auto Workers in 1937. This organizing was done by a group of billing machine operators and supervisors. This was a conservative union that was fairly timid in the early years.
There had been prior attempts to organize a union at Briggs & Stratton as early as 1918. Earlier in the 1930's there were unsuccessful attempts to organize a union at Briggs by the IWW, Machinists, and UAW. The Machinists had made some headway, but the company fired employees showing support for the union and there was some resistance since the Machinists were a skilled craft union organizing a largely unskilled shop.
There had been prior attempts to organize a union at Briggs & Stratton as early as 1918. Earlier in the 1930's there were unsuccessful attempts to organize a union at Briggs by the IWW, Machinists, and UAW. The Machinists had made some headway, but the company fired employees showing support for the union and there was some resistance since the Machinists were a skilled craft union organizing a largely unskilled shop.
Local 7-232 was first organized as Local 232 of the United Auto Workers in 1937. This organizing was done by a group of billing machine operators and supervisors. This was a conservative union that was fairly timid in the early years.
There had been prior attempts to organize a union at Briggs & Stratton as early as 1918. Earlier in the 1930's there were unsuccessful attempts to organize a union at Briggs by the IWW, Machinists, and UAW. The Machinists had made some headway, but the company fired employees showing support for the union and there was some resistance since the Machinists were a skilled craft union organizing a largely unskilled shop.
Briggs and Stratton recognized the Union after almost all of the 1,300 workers signed up with the union. The first agreement contained a 20% wage increase, (half of which replaced a former bonus), a grievance procedure and limited recognition of seniority rights. A one-week vacation came soon thereafter. At that time the UAW had a policy stating that there should be no signed contracts, only written policies. This was because the labor movement was enjoying considerable success in a very fluid labor relations environment at that time.
The relationship with the company remained good from 1938 until 1944. There were however many shortcomings to this arrangement and few benefits by today's standards. There was no union shop agreement, weak seniority protections and different wages for men and women. The contract that ran from September 12, 1942 until July 1, 1944 had starting rates of 48¢ per hour for women and 55¢ per hour for men. In 1944 women made up 46% of the workforce at Briggs and Stratton.
When that contract expired, the union made substantial demands including dues check-off and union security, a better grievance procedure, plant wide seniority for layoffs, equal pay for equal work and full pay for stewards for time spent handling grievances. Negotiations broke down and the matter was appealed to the War Labor Board. The War Board directed the company to grant the union shop agreement, dues check-off, full pay for time lost in grievance handling, and an additional week off for those with five years seniority. The company refused to do so, arguing the WLB had no legal jurisdiction. Additionally the company had a policy of not revealing the rates of pay for various jobs to the union. The union felt the company used this practice to reward "stooges" without the knowledge of the union by placing them on high paying jobs.
Beginning in November of 1945 the union adopted a policy of sporadic work stoppages and walkouts. These walkouts were without warning and could last from a few hours to a few days. Members would leave the shop...
In an effort to minimize subcontracting, a joint committee was established. Subcontracting is defined as the placement of work previously performed by the bargaining unit with outside concerns when such work could be performed by the bargaining unit at the time of such placement without overtime or additional equipment and at the same quality level as that offered by the outside concerns.
In an effort to minimize subcontracting, a joint committee was established. The Committee will discuss new work and alterations. The Committee will discuss factors such as, but not limited to, timeliness, available manpower, commitment of the workers, equipment needed, and economics. Whenever practical, the Committee will be given the opportunity to discuss proposed new work and alterations to subcontracting before it occurs
In an effort to minimize subcontracting, a joint committee was established. The Committee will discuss factors such as, but not limited to, timeliness, available manpower, commitment of the workers, equipment needed, and economics. Whenever practical, the Committee will be given the opportunity to discuss proposed subcontracted projects before they are subcontracted.
A joint committee shall be formed for the purpose of resolving issues related to the establishment and administration of the Internal Skilled Trades Training Program. In this regard, the committee will discuss matters related to an employee's progression through the training program as well as any other dispute which may arise concerning to the administration of the program.
In addition, if an issue to be discussed is related to a specific trade an employee from the respective trade may be added to the committee, either by the company or the Union to assist in resolving the issue.
The Joint Apprenticeship Committee was formed to discuss and resolve issues that may arise with apprentices and or the program. The Committee reviews progress including hours and reviews of apprentices, advocates for the needs of the apprentices, and discusses the needs of the company for staffing including new apprentices.
DeLeon Jamison- Union Representative
Robert Simmons - Journeyman Representative (Tool Room)
Dan Kempf - Apprentice Representative (Tool Room)
Jeff Baker - Journeyman Representative (Maintenance)
Jim Regan - Apprentice Representative (Maintenance)
A Joint Health & Safety Committee was formed to regularly address the safety concerns of our members. The Committee performs safety audits, reports member concerns, notifies the company of safety violations and does various safety walks.
