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Black Blade
5th November 2010, 03:20 AM
It's official: Olin ammo production to Mississippi

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/2/20/e9d/220e9dd6-e788-11df-9b79-0017a4a78c22-revisions/4cd1c49cc4183.preview-300.jpg

BY STEVE GIEGERICH
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 2:33 pm

The Olin Corp. announced Wednesday that it will suspend production of centerfire ammunition at its plant in East Alton and re-locate the manufacturing operation to Oxford, Miss.

The move comes less than 24 hours after members of the union representing over Olin 800 workers rejected concessions that would have allowed them to keep their jobs.

"Our focus always has been on ensuring that we continue producing high-quality products for our customers in an increasingly competitive market," president and CEO Joseph D. Rupp said in a prepared statement.

"While I am disappointed that employees represented by the International Association of Machinists chose to reject a proposal that would have allowed us to remain competitive in East Alton, we look forward to expanding our existing operations in Mississippi."

East Alton's second-largest employer, Olin manufactures the centerfire ammunition line for firearms sold under the Winchester brand.

Developing story.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/job-watch/article_b01e72be-e782-11df-ab83-00127992bc8b.html

Black Blade: At least WWB ammo will likely remain fairly "cheap" looking forward.

Black Blade
5th November 2010, 03:46 AM
Olin calls workers' bluff: Ammo plant to Mississippi

Snippit:

The Olin Corp. said Wednesday that it will put its money where its mouth is — in Mississippi.

A day after union workers rejected for a second time a contract that might have saved their jobs, the Metro East company told them it was moving about 1,000 ammunition production jobs from Metro East to Oxford, Miss.

As members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 9 left the East Alton catering hall where the ballots were tallied Tuesday night, more than a few of the employees ventured that Olin was bluffing.

The company, they maintained, had no intention of following through on its threat to move their jobs. On Wednesday, Olin called their bluff by announcing that it would build a 500,000-square-foot facility when it moves its ammunitions operations.

According to an Olin news release, Mississippi provided "'significant incentives" to entice the manufacturer to expand production near a current Olin plant.

Joseph Rupp, the chairman, president and CEO of Clayton-based Olin, pointed the finger at the workers' failure to accept a contract that guaranteed seven years of job security in exchange for reductions in vacation time, an elimination of a matching company contribution to retirement plans and other incentives.

"While I am disappointed that employees ... chose to reject a proposal that would have allowed us to remain competitive in East Alton, we look forward to expanding our existing operations in Mississippi," Rupp said in a prepared statement.

Employees at the East Alton plant, which produces chemical compounds in addition to ammunition compatible with Winchester firearms, say Olin is to blame for a situation that will result in their jobs' going to residents of a right-to-work, or nonunion, state.

Peters declined to disclose the amount of the incentives provided by Mississippi. The St. Louis Business Journal, citing sources with the Mississippi Development Authority, placed the amount of the incentives for the 500,000-square-foot expansion at $25 million.

Barham fears the 593-470 vote that split the ranks of the Machinists will carry over to the workplace for the remaining days of ammunition production in East Alton.

"It's going to be a tense situation because everybody is going to be pointing fingers at everybody else," he predicted. "Some people are going to say, 'You cost me my job.' And other people are going to say, 'You didn't stick by your guns.' It is not going to be pretty."

http://www.stltoday.com/business/article_ebcde769-54bc-5031-b4d5-e19fda6d770b.html


Black Blade: The unemployment and soup lines are about to grow longer in East Alton. The workers voted down the contract, I guess they showed them.

Dogman
5th November 2010, 06:11 AM
Looks like that union is following a developing tradition of....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwGpAm7QnjY

RJB
5th November 2010, 06:31 AM
Looks like that union is following a developing tradition of....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwGpAm7QnjY
By the angle, location, and reaction, it appears that he shot himself elsewhere...

Book
5th November 2010, 06:37 AM
http://myexposition.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/china-factory.jpg

Amelicans razy and spoiled.

:oo-->

Dogman
5th November 2010, 06:43 AM
Looks like that union is following a developing tradition of....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwGpAm7QnjY
By the angle, location, and reaction, it appears that he shot himself elsewhere...


Yeah, could be. Still the results would be the same! ;D

joe_momma
5th November 2010, 07:25 AM
"....say Olin is to blame for a situation that will result in their jobs' going to residents of a right-to-work, or nonunion, state."

uh-huh - Clearly Olin had no business asking the workers to match the free market offer from that evil right to work state.

IMHO this was another wake up call completely missed. To be competitive on the national (and world stage) the standard of living (including wages and benefits) of the American worker is going to drop. The only question is how far.

1) Horrific drop - the nanny state remains in place and continues to provide lifetime entitlements to a permanent non-working class of residents (which would include legal citizens).

2) Significant drop - the nanny state dissolves most of the entitlements, the impact of lower wages and benefits is offset by a reduction in taxes previously used to give non-productive residents the net equivalent of a $35,000 dole.

Either way, the next decade is going to hurt.

drafter
5th November 2010, 09:46 AM
I wonder how safe ammo produced at that plant is going to be before they can make the move? I wwouldn't put it past some union boys to try and sabotage things on the way out.