USW: Bargaining with Libbey Glass inconclusive (200 tentative layoffs)

“Unusual” and “insulting” – two words used by a United Steel Workers Union representative to describe the first session of bargaining with Libbey Glass.

After announcing 200 tentative layoffs at the Shreveport Libbey Glass plant, the glassmaker sat down with the USW today (Friday) to examine the fate of those employees. USW representative David Broussard expected something quite different than he got.

“It’s just very unfair,” Broussard said. “They really have a valuable asset here in Shreveport. The union has bent over backwards for years to give them what they’ve asked for. And the company is making money, and they’re coming back to us for more.”

Broussard went into the meeting this morning expecting “effects bargaining,” a method for seeking terms, payment and benefits associated with mass layoffs. What he got instead, Broussard said, was a term he’d never heard before which Libbey Glass called “decision bargaining.”

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130222/NEWS05/130222018/USW-Bargaining-Libbey-Glass-inconclusive?nclick_check=1

Earlier related story: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130221/NEWS01/130221013/Libbey-Glass-reduce-Shreveport-employment-by-200

Libbey Glass’ master business plan calls for a body blow to the Shreveport job market.

About 200 local jobs are on the chopping block as the world’s second-largest producer of glass products continues its 2015 restructuring plan. Shreveport is the only Libbey facility slated to lose jobs this year as part of the corporate overhaul.

The downsizing was announced this morning during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which declared 2012 a record year for corporate gains. The company’s sales increased by 5 percent in its U.S. and Canadian markets.

But CEO Stephanie Streeter says there still is a long way to go to keep the company competitive in the global market. “Libbey 2015 is centered on reducing our costs and boosting efficiency across the company, refining our leadership positions in key segments — particularly in the U.S. food service and Mexico food service and retail markets — and accelerating our growth in China and reducing our liabilities and working capital required to operate our core business,” she said during the earnings report.