Chris, I think you miss the point of creating a contract. It is a signed agreement and one that shouldn't be conveniently ignored. I would assume if you signed a contract with someone...say with a contractor to work on your home...and they just decided to ignore parts of it you would have no problem with that? The point of what I am getting is that the company continues to cut staff but then asks the current employees to make up the difference. The employee contract is likely saying, "if you need more workers hire them." As a teacher I would assume you would not want to continually add more and more students to a single classroom to the point where your ability to reach each student would be hampered, would you? Or are you so loyal to your bosses that you would figure whatever they say must be what is right?

The work ethic has been eroding for years, it really is a shame. To that point , basic ethics in business have also hit an all time low - imo.

Hi Chris,
EVERYONE works overtime today. Unions have lost their ability to organize and encourage new members. Why - there are books written about the failure of union leadership, corruption, outsourcing, globalization, etc. Whatever. The reality is that union membership is not what it once was nor will ever be again. To think otherwise is foolish and not reality based. A contract is a signed agreement yes, but we all know contracts have endless loopholes.
Loyalty to bosses has nothing to do with anything - it is loyalty to a paycheck that is today's reality for most of us. And if you don't have a paycheck, you don't survive.
And if you want to talk about long hours, my wife worked retail at highend shops like Banana Republic, Kenneth Cole, Dillards, as a manager and it was EXPECTED that she work at least 10 hours a day if not more, sometimes 6 days a week. All on a salary, not hourly rate. This is the reality for most workers today. And if she didn't want to do those hours, well, there were 10 people waiting to take her job.
Such is the work world today in corporate run USA. There is very little unions can do for most workers in the USA today.

Chris, with all due respect because I believe in what you do as a teacher having been one myself, there is a huge difference here. You're comparing apples to oranges. When you work overtime you are doing it for one of the greatest causes there is: educating & forming young minds thus building the future for all of us. & frankly as important as it is & as stressful as it can be it's quite a cushy gig compared to what these men do daily. Imagine working in a place where you're dealing with machines that can potential rip off one of your apendages at the slightest mistake & the air quality is so full of poisons someone who isn't used to it will literally choke upon entering. But that isn't even the problem here, the problem is that this company HAS LIED TO THEM. It isn't even the company they originally signed up for, which was more like a family than most work places. This company has stepped in, stripped away the workforce & the moral, made agreements with them that cost these men pay & benefits then turned around & lied to them. They aren't just moving a couple machines to Elyria, they're absorbing the company these men built up with their blood, sweat & health. They're doing it to make their own less capable companies look good. Best of all these men have never gone on strike, never ceased to produce. They could just quit & sit on unemployment but they're not built like that. No work ethic? Ridiculous. But would you want to work overtime for someone doing this to you?

Hi Meituk,
We are living in an economic recession in NE Ohio. Walk down any street in this area and there are empty storefronts. Walk down any residential streets and there are deteriorating housing stocks, empty apartment buildings. This area is not a move to area for young people looking to invest in a career and home. The area has a huge aging population of limited means. Unions need to accept these realities when they are faced with either maintaining jobs or losing thems. These are no win times for anyone. If Solidarity means denial of the reality of business today, then more and more jobs will leave and no jobs will come here. Let encourage Solidarity to mean compromise in the face of economic ruin. The city and the union need to do whatever it will take to keep this company in Lakewood.
Whatever it will take! Or is the city and the union willing to accept more loss of tax revenue, more job loss, more lowering of property values, more moving of its citizens our of the area/state, no new business relocating or opening here - are we really ready to begin the new empty/rundown Detroit - over Solidarity? over contract loopholes? If yes, welcome to Lakewood continuing its slow decline - there is no lucky Lottery win for Lakewood folks!

One of the main points in the contract was that the company would NOT move from Lakewood. The truth is the workers gave up between $5-$7 an hour in pay and benefits to keep that from happening and now 5 years later here it is. This company isn't even the company they originally worked for, the only thing left of Ferry Cap & Set Screw is THEM. This new owner has systematically torn them down, lied to them and now is trying to cheat them. And to address your final point, yes there are many who would love to have those jobs. Unfortunately there aren't many at all who would be able to actually perform them. These men are a rare breed, all of which have been with the company for decades. They have worked on these machines and honed their skills for that long, working in the sludge and filth creating intricate machine parts better than anyone else. These men are the result of years of hanging in there longer than anyone else, the best of the best at their job. That's why they aren't just being fired. The company needs them, needs the know how they possess and won't find anywhere else. Unfortunately it doesn't want to treat them as the irreplaceable assets that they really are.