September 15, 2015
By John Quinn, LaborPress USA
Rockport, Indiana – For the second time in less than a month, highly skilled maintenance working women and men at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) rejected a vicious anti-union campaign and voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW.
The skilled-trades workers, who are subcontractors at the AK Steel plant in southern Indiana, voted 84-33 join the UAW almost identical to a vote in August that was 87-37.
Disregarding workers' clear desire to form a union, the company had filed frivolous objections to the first election. To prevent the company from further delaying the process, the union pushed for a settlement to set the first election results aside and revote.
“The workers expressed frustration at the company's resistance to their organizing efforts, but expect that the results of the rerun election will be respected by management and they look forward to building a positive, productive relationship with their management team as they gain their collective bargaining rights,” said Ken Lortz, UAW Region 2-B Director.
CB&I employees will now concentrate on winning their first contract at CB&I. The workers maintain specialized machinery in the plant such as cranes and other equipment used to produce carbon and stainless steel for the auto industry.
