18 month Elkhart strike closer to ending. Feds overturn appeal, set stage for decertification

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070926/Biz/709260444/1013/Biz

Feds overturn appeal, set stage for decertification of Conn-Selmer union.

ED RONCO
Tribune Staff Writer

ELKHART -- The nearly 18-month strike at a musical instrument factory here could be one step away from ending.

Federal officials have overturned an appeal by United Auto Workers Local 364 in its bad-faith bargaining complaint against Conn-Selmer, owner of the musical instrument factory where union members walked out in April 2006.

The decision, handed down in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, upheld a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board's Indianapolis office, which rejected union claims that Conn-Selmer used unlawful tactics to attract workers across the picket line.

Workers now can vote on whether to decertify the union. If the union is decertified, the UAW would no longer represent employees at the plant.

The move would officially end the strike, as well as weekly union paychecks of $200 to the 132 union members still collecting strike pay.


FULL story at link.

[LiberalFighter]

1. Need to have those that decide where to buy musical instruments

at the universities and high schools stop buying from conn-selmer.