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December 8, 2005
Workers at the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. in Winchester,
Kentucky, took grievances over the company's new seniority policy to the street
today, striking just outside the company's gates in small teams with signs.
Employees reportedly voted down a contract with the company Sunday due to a new
policy that workers say prevents seniority from helping employees obtain new
positions at the plant.
Workers say seniority has been a factor in determining who will fill new jobs
for the last 30 years, but the new contract changes the long-standing rules. The
old contract expired at midnight last night, and workers began the strike at 4
a.m. today.
“We'd like to have it resolved and be back to work tomorrow, is what we'd like,”
said Matt Montgomery, president of the Teamsters Union Local No. 651, which
represents about 3000 teamsters in Central and Eastern Kentucky.
The strike began with small groups of employees standing outside the company's
four gates near Jackson Street holding signs and waving at vehicles. Forty-four
employees are participating in the strike with eight-hour shifts.
Workers huddled around fires with coveralls and heavy winter clothing to stay
warm in the 29-degree cold or marched in front of the gates without any
confrontation. The strike will last as long as it takes, union leaders say, and
most workers declined further comment.
The company used seniority to determine who would get a job among otherwise
qualified candidates, said Mason Middendorf, an agent with the Teamsters. But
now the company wants workers to stay in one job indefinitely, he said.
“Some jobs are better than others, and people that have been here the longest
ought to be able to work the jobs they prefer,” Middendorf said. “Seniority is
all a person gets working an hourly job, and they're not willing to give that
up.”
Officials from Pepsi-Cola Co. declined today to comment further on the strike
until the matter is resolved.
The article originally appeared in The Winchester Sun
(Kentucky) on December 5, 2005, and was written by Mike Wynn. |
