PEKIN -- Here's an unusual story: for once the union won! And most are women!
Members of Laborers Local 231 gathered in Pekin to celebrate their victory on April 15 after a four-month strike, during the coldest winter in years, a strike that's been all but invisible in the local mainstream media.
Union steward Robin Harrison said the union walked out from Pal Health Technologies of Pekin on Oct. 2. The strike ended Feb. 1 with the workers getting raises and a 401(k) match.
The company makes prescription orthotics, and has been in business for 32 years. The owner decided to try to rid the workplace of the union, she said. "They brought in union busters. They thought a few would cross the picket line and train new workers."
But the boss was wrong. Only one person crossed. Sixty-one went on strike.The mostly female workforce, many of them over age 40 and 20-year veterans at the plant, showed solidarity, she said.
Jane Evans, a UAW Local 974 retiree, agreed with Harrison. "If they hadn't stuck together...." she said. "They stuck together."
When the owner saw his contracts evaporating, he settled, Harrison said. "We won unfair labor practices. We had the law on our side, which made a huge difference," she added.
The women's celebration included a concert by activist Anne Feeney and Evan Greer, who are on a Midwest tour (see story below). Feeney also played and sang for the women last fall, while they were on strike.
Feeney's t-shirt said it all: "Kick Ass for the Working Class."-- Elaine Hopkins
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