The contract approved by United Auto Workers Local 1059, which represents 77 production workers at the Chestnut Ridge plant and about 35 workers at the Kingston plant, grants severance pay and benefits to workers who will lose their jobs. The workers at the Chestnut Ridge plant have more seniority and can displace those working at the Kingston plant, Kevin Honse, president of UAW Local 1059, said following the vote yesterday at a Derry social hall.
"The decision is in alignment with our growth strategies and deals directly with Kennametal's need to address product line profitability and product capacity. (It) will generate $3.8 million in annual savings," spokeswoman Christina Reitano said.
Kennametal will begin eliminating jobs at Chestnut Ridge in August and continue through Dec. 15. The plant, which makes products for the drilling industry, could remain open until next spring, depending upon how workers move to new jobs, Honse said.
The union and Kennametal have been negotiating for several weeks, but the UAW could not give Kennametal enough concessions to save the Chestnut Ridge plant, Honse said. He believed Kennametal decided the plant's fate before it started bargaining.
"There was no way you could save $3.8 million a year. You'd have to go down to $5 an hour (in wages)," Honse said.
Under the new contract, workers will get annual pay raises of about 3 percent. They earn an average of about $21 an hour.
In addition to workers transferring to the Kingston plant, which makes carbide powder, the contract allows for 10 workers to transfer to Kennametal's Carbidie plant in Irwin, where workers are represented by the United Steelworkers, Honse said.
Several Kennametal workers expressed bitterness about losing their job when the company is doing well financially.
"I was hoping to work four more years and retire. ... Who's going to hire a 58-year-old man?", said Ralph Gaebel of Jeannette, who is scheduled to lose his job in October.
"They're offering us a $500 signing bonus (for approving the contract) for a job we don't have," said Anita Long of Greensburg, who worked at the plant for 10 1/2 years. "They're shipping our jobs to China," where the workers will be paid $2 an hour, she said.
Kennametal will transfer nearly twice as many jobs to its U.S. facilities than to its plant in Tianjin, China, Reitano said. The majority of the jobs will remain in Pennsylvania. Work done at the Chestnut Ridge plant will be transferred to plants in Rogers, Ark., and Victoria, British Columbia, she added.
Kennametal will provide outplacement services for affected employees, the company said.
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