Moncure workers strike for the 1st time, against management's rollback

Workers at Moncure Plywood LLC, on Corinth Road between Moncure and Brickhaven in southeast Chatham County, have been on strike, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since July 20^th.  This is the first time the union, Local Lodge W369 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Woodworking Division, a member of the AFL-CIO, has struck in its 40-year existence. 

 

Management at the company, a subsidiary of Wood Resources LLC, has changed eight times in the past three years, after it was bought by Atlas Holdings LLC (www.atlasholdingsllc.com) from Weyerhaeuser in December 2004.  Moncure seems to be the only one of the three Wood Resources facilities that has a union.  Lewis Cameron has been president of the Local for 23 years and vice president before that.  He speculates that the Company was looking for a manager who would try to rollback what rights the workers have now, and they appear to have found their person when they hired Ernest Plaunty as plant manager in September 2007. 

 

The contract is re-negotiated every 1 to 3 years, and once or twice there has been a four-year contract.  In negotiations this spring the Company demanded the elimination of seniority, a 60-hour work week (40 hours with 20 hours overtime, 10 hours more), fewer holidays, raising health insurance costs 300-400%.  The workforce is about 60% black, 30% Latino, and 10% white, while there were about 20 supervisors, one black and the rest white.  Without explanation three black supervisors were fired after the 6^th change of management two years ago.  Last October OSHA fined the Company $37,000, and some things have improved, but Cameron says the plant has not been well maintained.  The violations included wood cutting machines without guards, holes in the floor, standing water under equipment, and excessive dust, which is a major fire hazard.  Last year 7 workers suffered serious injuries, including a lost thumb, and two workers had to get surgical treatment for repetitive motion injuries.  Workers also have had to work while ill.  Management tried to impose an impractical dress code.  According to Cameron, on 80-90° days the inside of the plant can be over 100°, while in cold weather it is colder inside than outside, and this is demanding physical work.  The Company produces hardwood plywood for the frames of upholstered furniture, starting from raw logs.  The logs are cut into blocks, lathed into thin strips and cores, the sheets are dried, glued into alternating layers, pressed at temperatures above 300°, and cut to size and graded.  Moncure Plywood has a capacity of 120,000 million square feet, and a larger permit of 160,000 MSF. 

 

The Local voted 90-3 to strike at 9pm on July 20^th.  The plant has 206 workers, but North Carolina is a "right to work" state, meaning workers can get the benefits of a union, without being required to join when they are hired, undermining the workers' collective bargaining power.  The strikers have been replaced by mostly Latino scab workers.  In one-on-one encounters, management tried to divide the workers by ethnicity before the strike.  Black workers were told no more blacks would be hired and Latinos were told they would be reported to immigration if they supported the Union, though Cameron believes most or all of the workers are citizens.  The first Company publication in Spanish was anti-union literature.  The intimidation increased the weekend before last, when strikers saw a red noose hanging on the log house inside the plant's fence.  It was removed early on Monday.  Cameron says there was not a racially charged atmosphere at the plant prior to the strike.  About 114 workers picket, at different times, since Moncure Plywood is always open. 

 

The workers have gotten a lot of community support from inside NC and beyond.  August 26^th there was a large rally at the Pittsboro Courthouse at 6pm.  On the 10^th workers spoke at a meeting of Balance and Accuracy in Journalism in Chapel Hill.  Members of the local chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom joined the picket line, and the community is welcome to come out.  There is a weekly carpool from Chapel Hill, on different days of the week, but mostly in the morning.  Call 919 968 1888 if you want to join.  There has also been church support and a donation from American Life Insurance Company. 

 

Sharpened conflict between management and the workers and attacks over ethnicity and immigration status look like the pattern as the economic crisis continues, but in Moncure workers are defending their rights and have solidarity from the community and beyond, and that can be a strong force. 

 

There are photos of the picket online at: http://flickr.com/photos/aflcionc/sets/72157606354360551/

 

Independent Voices did a segment on the strike, which can be seen online at: www.YouTube.com/watch?v=7vXQ2Buj48E

 

To contact or donate to the workers:

 

IAM Local Lodge W369

PO Box 318

Moncure, North Carolina 27559

 

919 770 5836

 

Moncure Plywood CEO Richard Yarborough can be contacted at:

 

(360) 432 5114