Wheatland Tube workers approve new contract, 16% wage increase and healthcare benefits

Workers at the Wheatland Tube facility in Warren have a new contract. Votes were counted early Friday afternoon to approve a sizable wage and benefit increase.

The workers will see a 16% increase over the next five years. That comes out to a nearly 3.5% wage increase each year which is more than what was offered in their previous contracts. 

The workers will also keep their current medical plan with a low cost employee contribution. 

There are nearly 140 workers at the Warren Wheatland Tube facility. The company primarily makes parts for sprinkler systems. The workers are all apart of the United Steelworkers Union 9306.

109 workers casted a vote Friday. Each of them went into a private booth checked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a piece of paper and put their ballot in a secure box. 

When it comes to counting all of those votes, the union has several checks and balances to make sure everything is fair. 

“The box gets unlocked and all three of the tellers will count individual first and then they’ll write the number on a piece of paper. Then they’ll fold it and then all the numbers at the end of the three counts they have to match,” Dave Boyles Jr., the Trustee for the union said. 

If the numbers don’t match the count starts again to ensure everything is tallied correctly. 

The workers had been negotiating a contract with the owner of the plant Zekelman Industries since the beginning of September. The workers held a vote and shot down a contract at the end of October and walked out of the job Thursday, October 24. The union leaders went back to the bargaining table with the company and this time negotiated with the CEO of Zekelman Industries. 

“It’s what’s important to them and their families,” Jeff Winters, the president of the Wheatland Tube Union said about what they were asking for. “We do our best as a committee to go out there and bargain the issues. We do a survey and we talk with [the workers] prior to going in … it doesn’t always go the right way when you're bargaining of course because the company has its own agenda that they’re after too.”

The union representatives said they had to ask for a better contract to be able to keep up with inflation. They were presented with a tentative agreement by the company and held another vote again Nov 1. 

“We feel that we’ve accomplished most of the goals we set out into the package for the body and how they vote is how they vote,” Winters said 

Colin Morgan is the Vice President of the Wheatland Tube Union and works at the facility. He said workers were prioritizing healthcare over raises in the new contract. Morgan said he is happy with what has been approved because they can keep their benefits not just for themselves but for those that they support. 

“It's a lot of families that we work with. A lot of people have kids, grandkids, things like that that they’re raising,” Morgan said. “...Knowing that I can take my daughter when she's sick somewhere knowing that okay this is going to be covered significantly I’m not going to have to worry about it, it's one of those so you don't worry. It's a peace of mind type thing.”

The union needed more than half of the votes to be ‘yes’ to approve the contract. Once everything was counted, 73% voted ‘yes’ and the contract was solidified.