Strike at Jackson MSC ended, for now`

Nearly five weeks after they first went up, picket signs at Jackson MSC came down Thursday afternoon.

United Steelworkers of America Local #14300 agreed Thursday afternoon to return to work under their old contract while negotiations for a new contract continue.

USWA Union representative Sam Elliott, in a telephone interview with The Advocate Thursday evening, said, "We have made an offer to return to work. The company is going to let me know tomorrow (Friday) whether they are going to let the workers go back to work. If they don’t, we’ll be locked out."

Elliott said that the offer was made in "good faith."

"We made our point," he said, adding that according to one of the plant’s largest customers, product now being produced by non-union temporary workers is of a lower quality than that produced by union workers.

He added that he feels the move was a good one strategically. "This way, we haven’t run the company out of business…with prolonged strikes, that can happen."

Elliott said that although no vote was taken, this is something he suggested that the workers do. He explained to workers during a meeting Thursday afternoon that if they return to work and the company still does not act also in good faith or refused to negotiate their position, the strike could be back on.

Elliott said the union has filed a charges with the National Labor Relations Board regarding alleged unfair labor practices by the company.

Those practices, he said, include failure to produce documentation about insurance costs for employees, bargaining directly with employees, and threats to move one of the production lines at the plant to another facility.
Regarding the threat to move the line, Elliott said, "Although they backed off of that, the fact that they threatened in made it illegal."

He said the company is expected to let him know by Friday morning if they will allow the workers to return and that, if they do, union workers could be back in the plant as soon as early next week.

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