Bekaert, union to resume contract talks today

The union rejected the last offer Tuesday.

Corporate officials at Bekaert and representatives of the union are slated to be back at the bargaining table today to try to hammer out a new five-year contract.

The previous fiveyear contract expired Friday, and IUE-CWA Local 83190 President Rex Rains said employees rejected the latest offer from the company Tuesday night.

The Rome plant is the only Bekaert plant in the U.S. where employees are represented by a union.

There has not been any talk of a work stoppage, Rains said, and he is optimistic that a new agreement could be negotiated.

“This is a good company and they’ve put a lot of money in this plant, so we’ve just got to find a happy medium,” Rains said.

Corporate officials did not return calls to the Rome News-Tribune on Wednesday.

Rains said the healthcare package put on the table by the company is probably the biggest sticking point in the talks.

“Nobody’s got our insurance,” he said.

The company had offered a new three-tiered package that union members were not happy with, Rains explained.

Rains said he has been

through five different contract negotiations over the years.

“We’ll get through this, everybody’s working and we’re all here to make a good product and get it out the door,” he said. “Things are changing and we’ve got to get the best out of it that we can.”

Rains said the serious negotiations have been going on for about three weeks and both parties really want to resolve the issues, hence the immediate return to the bargaining table after the last union vote Tuesday night.