Negotiations Continue For Union Brick Plant Employees To Avoid Strike

Union employees at HarbisonWalker International in Vandalia have three more weeks for contract negotiations after an extension was provided.

Union employees voted 66-34 on Friday last week to reject the contract that had been proposed. A strike was avoided by the three week extension. A company official said there are about 125 union employees at the brick plant and about 30 company employees.

A meeting is tentatively slated for Sunday, July 9 though union officials are hopeful that an agreement can be reached before that.

Mike Susic, representative for United Steelworkers Local 853 said employees have been working with the current contract for the past five years. He noted that he couldn’t discuss the specifics of negotiations.

“We’re going to work with the membership to ascertain the issues and work with the company to come up with a proposal and then get an agreement.”

The three-week extension to the current contract will keep things going at the plant until the new July 9 deadline.