Thursday, February 12, 2009

Oak Harbor Teamsters Offer to Return to Work

Union Proposal Extended in Effort to Re-Open Bargaining

The following is the official statement of Teamsters International Vice President Al Hobart regarding an offer from the more than 600 striking workers at Oak Harbor to the company to return to work:

"Following extensive discussion with local representatives and rank-and-file workers from Oak Harbor who have been on strike for more than four months, our union announced it had extended an offer to end this job action and return to negotiations.

"This offer is contingent upon the company allowing every worker to return to their positions free from reprisal from management with no change in the wages or benefits they earned prior to the strike. The company must also agree to return to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith a fair agreement.

"In this tumultuous economic climate, it does not benefit the workers or the company to allow Oak Harbor to continue to lose business due to this labor dispute and face the growing risk of closing its doors forever.

"It is our hope that the company will see this offer as a positive step toward resolving our differences and addressing the challenge of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that will not only provide Oak Harbor's workers with fair compensation and protections in the workplace, but secure a stable and capable workforce that will help the company compete and grow."

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