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Season 6, Episode 167

Libby Glass Workers Face Potential Strike Over Contract Dispute

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Donnie Blatt

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Donnie Blatt, District 1 Director of the United Steelworkers, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the ongoing contract dispute at Libby Glass in Toledo, Ohio. Blatt outlined the workers' past sacrifices to save the company, the current contract negotiations and the potential for a strike.

Blatt explained that in 2020, Libby Glass workers made significant concessions to help the company avoid bankruptcy and liquidation. He said employees gave up pay raises, accepted higher healthcare premiums, eliminated retiree healthcare and froze their defined benefit pension. These sacrifices, combined with a $45 million government grant secured by the union, saved the company approximately $76.8 million.

Now that Libby Glass is profitable again, Blatt said the company is attempting to rewrite the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Proposed changes include altering seniority rights, expanding management rights and eliminating work jurisdictions for different Local Unions within the plant. Blatt said the company's last, best and final offer was overwhelmingly rejected by workers by a vote of 302 to 5.

If an agreement isn't reached, Libby Glass workers are prepared to strike starting Saturday. Blatt emphasized that the union is fighting for hard-earned gains and rights that have nothing to do with the company's viability or production. He stated that the USW fully supports the members and is committed to winning this battle, regardless of how long it takes.

To hear more about the Libby Glass contract dispute and potential strike, listen to the full episode of the America's Work Force Union Podcast.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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