Mercury Marine: THIRD Vote

What a difference a day makes!

Frankly, I don't think the union members deserve another chance, but they're getting one.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Union workers at Mercury Marine Inc. are getting one more chance - probably their last one - to vote on contract concessions aimed at keeping hundreds of jobs at the company's plant in Fond du Lac.

If the proposal is approved in a union vote scheduled for Thursday and Friday, company executives say they will keep the outboard engine manufacturing plant in Fond du Lac and will bring additional work to the plant from Stillwater, Okla. Mercury Marine also would probably keep its world headquarters in Fond du Lac, protecting about 1,000 jobs in addition to the 850 jobs at the manufacturing plant.

The upcoming vote is pivotal to the future of the company and the Fox Valley, where Mercury is one of the largest employers. Workers rejected the concessions in a vote Aug. 23; the union then aborted a second vote this week that had been prompted by an employee petition drive.

"Hundreds of employees expressed a desire to voice their true feelings, and that's something we can't ignore," said Mercury President Mark Schwabero.

Three chances?

I don't see how Mercury can be seen as the bad guys in this.

...The company may have lost some community support for snubbing the second vote. But community leaders say they're encouraged about the third opportunity for employees to get a long-term contract that ought to keep Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, even though there aren't any written job guarantees in the contract.

The company didn't "snub" the second vote. Give me a break.

The Union didn't meet the deadline.

The community should be grateful that Mercury is allowing this THIRD vote.

...Mercury executives have said a decision on whether to move the headquarters would be made after the fate of the manufacturing plant was determined. If the contract proposal passes, there's a very good chance that Fond du Lac will keep the headquarters, Buechel said.

Also, over time, Mercury has pledged to move work from Stillwater to Fond du Lac to consolidate operations, become more efficient and lower production costs.

Wisconsin and Oklahoma have been in a bidding war for the company, with both states offering generous incentives but not making the specifics of the offers public.

Gov. Jim Doyle told TMJ4's Michael George that he's been involved.

Responding to a question from TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Michael George, Governor Jim Doyle revealed his involvement in the dispute.

"I've been talking to both sides over the last couple days," Doyle said. "I hope we get to a nice clean vote by the union to decide if they accept that offer or not."

More.

On Monday, company spokesman Steve Fleming said Monday the final decision on the jobs had been made and it was "time for everybody to move on." The company had said it would move the jobs to a nonunion plant in Stillwater, Okla., with about 400 workers.

King declined comment Tuesday on details of the clarifications in the supplement or what broke led to another vote the company would accept.

Schwabero said Tuesday's developments followed several days of encouragement from state and local officials to find a "process for a revote on the company's best and final contract proposal." The deal has not changed from Aug. 23, he said.

After the first vote, Gov. Jim Doyle said the state offered an "aggressive package" to keep Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac. Doyle said the incentives were based on the company meeting certain milestones, including creating and retaining nearly 2,700 jobs and staying in Fond du Lac for 12 years.

Some union leaders said those details, had they been made public earlier, could have affected the vote, in providing some information about job security at the plant. The union had feared the jobs would move no matter what happened.

I don't know. I think union leaders are trying to save face.

I'd like to know what Doyle is offering Mercury.

This is unusual. What's in it for Doyle?

With Doyle out of the running in 2010, we know that Mercury isn't promising to pad his campaign coffers.

It will be great if the jobs do stay in Wisconsin.

I'd just like to know what the price is to keep them.


Video, FOX 6 News.