The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), June 11, 2006, Sunday

Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved.
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)

June 11, 2006 Sunday
FINAL EDITION

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. E1

HEADLINE: LABOR PAINS INTENSIFY;
RISING HEALTH-CARE COSTS, GREED BLAMED FOR MORE STRIKES

BYLINE: By Charley Hannagan Staff writer

BODY:
After three years of labor peace in Central New York's offices and factories, the area has experienced five strikes in 19 months.
Unless circumstances change, there likely will be many more labor disputes as inflation and rising health insurance costs dominate contract negotiations, experts said.
The last time anyone can remember workers walking a picket line in front of Camillus Cutlery was 1952.
Last week, Rich Garrison, a member of United Steelworkers Local 4783, and his co-workers slowly paced up and down the picket line in front of the company's parking lot. Garrison, a 52-year-old widower and single parent from Cato, said striking his employer of 18 years isn't something he wants to do.
But, the company has cut his pay and benefits too deeply, said Garrison, an inspector sorter.
The cutlery froze pay and pensions for four years and eliminated piecework and incentives, even as the cost of living rose 8.5 percent over the same period. Then in January, the company cut the workweek from five to four days, amounting to a 20 percent pay cut.
The cutlery's management did not respond to telephone or in-person requests for comment.
Garrison said the gap between his Camillus Cutlery paycheck and what he needs to pay his mortgage, taxes, utilities and expenses is getting slimmer.
Even though he hasn't had a paycheck since the strike began May 17, "if I strike, I at least have a hope of maybe getting it settled with a contract that I can survive with," Garrison said. "If I stay there (with the company's current situation), I know I can't survive. It's a lose, lose."
The 260 members of Local 381 of the Glass Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union walked a picket line at Syracuse China for 39 days this spring before settling their contract.
The agreement froze wages for three years, and while workers kept the same health insurance benefits, the deductible will go up Jan. 1 to $50 for a single person and $100 for a family.
Local 381 President Jim Gacek blames the labor dispute on corporate greed.
" I think companies are becoming greedier. They know the costs are going up, and they want to recoup their costs through us," he said.
Some 24 union members have quit the Lyncourt dinnerware maker since the strike to go to other jobs, and more are interviewing with new employers, he said.
Working people across the country are under enormous pressure, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Labor Education Research at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"It's called being pushed against the wall," she said. "The choice is between having the kind of job where you can support a family and put your kids through college or the kind of jobs where you're living on the margin."
Louis P. DiLorenzo, co-chair of the labor and employment department at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, is one of the state's leading lawyers representing management interests.
DiLorenzo said in the past two years he's seen more strikes, more threats to strike and more contracts voted down the first time or two than ever before.
Rising inflation and health-care costs have lead to frustration on the part of workers and management, he said.
During past inflationary cycles, companies coped by offering moderate raises and paid health-care insurance, a benefit that at the time was less expensive to the company than offering higher raises, DiLorenzo said.
Then health-care insurance premiums shot up. With a limited pot of money out of which to pay wages and benefits, companies began asking employees to pay for part of their health insurance, he said.
Health insurance companies will rarely quote a rate beyond one year, making it difficult for employers to gauge their costs over the lifetime of a four- to five-year agreement, DiLorenzo said.
"We call health insurance the elephant in the room during negotiations," DiLorenzo said. "It's really put incredible pressure on the bargaining table."
Health insurance is the one item neither side can control, he said.
Workers believe they are entitled to company-paid health insurance, he said. While some are willing to pay for part of their premium, many don't want all of their raises to go to health care, DiLorenzo said.
And if someone is earning $8 an hour, it's unreasonable to ask he or she to pay $3 an hour for health insurance, DiLorenzo said.
"We need a solution to make the insurance affordable for people making less than $40,000 or $50,000 a year," he said. "They can't not be insured, but their whole working life and dreams can't be tied up with buying insurance every year instead of education for their children or advancing their families. The costs are too high."
The problem has reached a crisis point for working families and companies, and it's time for the government to step in, DiLorenzo said.
Until then, "you're going to see clearly more difficult labor negotiations. They are much more difficult than they've been for 20 years," DiLorenzo said. "I think you're going to see more strikes and more lockouts."
You can contact Charley Hannagan at 470-2161 or channagan@syracuse.com
SOME RECENT STRIKES IN CENTRAL NEW YORK
Syracuse China
Local 381 of the Glass Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union went on strike against plant owner Libbey Inc. April 1 after its four-year contract expired. At issue were wages, pensions and health insurance. After 39 days on strike, workers voted 150-70 to ratify a contract that calls for a three-year wage freeze and no cuts to health benefits, although they will pay a higher deductible.
Cooper Hand Tools
United Auto Workers Local 1774 walked out April 3 after its three-year contract with plant owner Cooper Industries expired April 1. The dispute centered on wages, benefits and health insurance. May 5, workers voted 66-22 in favor of a three-year contract that raises wages 3 percent in each of the first two years and 2.5 percent in the third. They also retained an incentive program and their vacation. However, health insurance co-pays and deductibles will double.
Camillus Cutlery
United Steelworkers Local 4783 went on strike against Camillus Cutlery May 17, after unanimously rejecting a proposed contract that would not guarantee them a 40-hour workweek. The company said it was facing a "severe financial crisis" and needed concessions from the union. Workers said the company wants to cut wages, paid vacations and holidays. It also wants workers to pay more for their health insurance, union members said. The strike is ongoing.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO Dennis Nett/Staff photographer CAMILLUS CUTLERY workers Pam Liggett (right) and Hazel Seeber (center), both of Camillus, look to see who is arriving to the picket line outside Camillus Cutlery Thursday.Members of United Steelworkers Local 4783 at the plant have been on strike since May 17. Also walking the picket line is Michelle Graves (left), of Fairmount.