Yesterday was absolutely amazing in DC. My eyes are still watery and I don't know if that's emotions or just the cold still seeping out.

I got into the office this morning to no one. There's seriously no one here. It's eerily quiet. So, I decided to read the web a little and get my head back into the game after weeks of inaugural planning and events. So, I headed over to CUPE and noticed this piece on a lock out that happened yesterday in British Columbia:

January 20, 2009 07:44 PM
GRAND FORKS, BC — CUPE 2254 members were locked out of their workplace this morning by the Grand Forks & District Library Board.


The five library workers were locked out at 9 a.m., then “invited to return to work” if they accepted a long list of management proposals that would gut their collective agreement. The contract at the public library expired on June 30 and the two sides started bargaining on October 5, 2008.

The members rejected the Board’s “offer” and spent the morning picketing the public library. They were joined on the line by several community members including Grand Forks Mayor Brian Taylor.

You see, there was one major reason why I decided on Obama back in January of last year, the Congress Hotel Strike. He walked a picket line when it didn't amke a difference on a political level for him, he did it because it was the right thing to do. That simple act said a lot to me, still does.

In the states, a lot of Dems won't cross a picket line. Yeah, there's that at least, but I can pobably count on one hand how many have walked a picked line. I've heard that our new Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis has walked a picket line and I believe that Sherrod Brown has as well and I know Dennis Kucinich's dad had been out on strike when he was growing up in Cleveland, ain't no way he didn't walk a picket a line. But outside of these folks, I'm hard pressed to find a local mayor or councilmember or State representative or senator...basically, I'm hard pressed to find this kind of thing happening in the States.

I'm not sure it's as much about the issue as it is about our laziness in showing support for anything outside of sending an e-mail, writing a blog post (I've walked a picket line, so it's not me of which I speak) or maybe dashing off a letter or a phone call. This mayor in BC walked a picket line with 5 locked out workers. In Van Wert Ohio this past April, Kongsberg Automotive locked out the United Steelworker employees that they inherited from Telefles in their buy out of Teleflex. But in all my coverage and reading of the issue, I don't ever recall the mayor walking the picket line with the workers. I hope he did, but it sure didn't get reported.

So, here's a tip of my hat to Grand Forks Mayor Brian Taylor. You're definately, one of the good guys.

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Kongsberg officials said the decisions were a result of the "global automotive market collapse" that has resulted in a steep drop in demand for automotive components especially in North America.

Kongsberg officials have said a lot, most of it is a bunch of hogswallow.

The Businessweek piece goes on to say:

Kongsberg said its Van Wert, Ohio facility will close sometime in the summer and its production will be transferred to the company's Nuevo Laredo, Mexico facility, eliminating about 105 jobs.

The company said it also plans to move its Haysville, Kan. facility's production to its facility in Matamoros, Mexico. The Haysville facility will also close sometime in the summer, affecting about 100 jobs, Kongsberg said.

Not a problem. When Kongsberg decideds that Mexico is too expensive, they'll move to Poland, Haiti, India, maybe back to the US, you know where ever the taxes are cheap and the workers are so desperate they'd crawl all over themselves to get the jobs. Cause in the end, they're really just greedy bastards.

And why do I call them greedy bastards, well, because while they talk about the poor auto market from one side of their mouth, they accept a huge German contract out of the other side.

Kongsberg Automotive has booked an order valued at MEUR 18 (MNOK 151). The new business includes delivery of Seat Heat to the European market. The contract term is 7 years with production start in 2010.

The seat heaters will be manufactured at Kongsberg Automotive's plant in Pruszkow, Poland.

The customer is a German automaker and one of the world's premier manufacturers of passenger cars.

Ah, yes, Poland. This is the operation begun by closures of Amotfors, Sweden. But don't take my word for it, here's what Kongsberg had to say:

Kongsberg, 8 December 2008.

Kongsberg Automotive (KA) has booked an order valued at MEUR 4,3 (40
MNOK). The new business includes delivery of Seat Heat to the Russian
market, where a German automaker is preparing the launch of a small
sized car.

"The customer is one of Europe's leading carmakers and this contract
represents a door-opener to the emerging Russian automotive market",
says Hans Peter Havdal, President of Automotive Systems at KA.
"Further, this contract is the first ever to this particular
carmaker, and we expect new business opportunities to follow as a
result of this award", he concludes.


###

Kongsberg Automotive is headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway and has
more than 50 facilities in 20 countries on all continents. Kongsberg
Automotive, with revenues of about EUR1 billion and over 9.500
employees, provides system solutions to vehicle makers around the
world. The product portfolio includes gearshift systems, cables for a
wide variety of applications, fuel lines, tubing and hoses,
couplings, clutch actuation, stabilizing rods, seat heaters, seat
ventilation, lumbar supports, head restrains, arm rests, steering
columns, pedals, electronics and displays. Find more information at
www.kongsbergautomotive.com.

Yeah, right, market is down, so we have to close Van Wert (despite an illegal lockout) and we will have to close operations in Kanasas (another 100 jobs) because we have to move those operations into Mexico. It's just business, after all. Just business. Greedy fucking bastards.

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Okay, the headline is really just my opinion, but then again, this posting is actually based on opinion. The opinion of the editor of the Van Wert Independant:

Kongsberg: It's what they don't say
Once again, a contingent of top Kongsberg Automotive officials have come to Van Wert to try and make their blue-collar workers look like the bad guys in their labor dispute.

Like Peter Spencer a few months ago, Kongsberg group vice president Jarle Nymoen met Thursday with a local news medium to let the community know how hard company officials are trying to keep the local plant here in Van Wert. Their words nearly brought tears to my eyes. Well, almost. Actually, I think they were tears of laughter.

When you strip the rhetoric out, Nymoen basically said there is a bright future for the company’s shift towers here in Van Wert if it wasn’t for those greedy union workers who demand a wage they can live on.

While workers in Mexico and China may be able to live on $9 an hour, one very much doubts that Norwegian workers back in Kongsberg could even pay to put gasoline in their cars on that wage.

In addition to trying to put public pressure on local Kongsberg union workers to settle for an unlivable wage, Nymoen and attorney Todd Dawson of Baker & Hostetler, who sent a letter to local news media earlier in the week, are trying to make union officials look bad for “lying” that Kongsberg is unwilling to meet and negotiate with them.

Actually, I think the meaning of the word “negotiate” is what Kongsberg and union officials seem to disagree on the most. While Dawson asserted that United Steelworkers District 1 President Dave McCall was wrong when he said company officials weren’t willing to meet for negotiations, what McCall actually said was: “We stand ready and prepared to go back to the table and bargain for a fair and just contract.”

Dawson’s own letter included the company’s idea of negotiations when he said that, while the company was willing to sit down and talk, it was committed to its final offer made prior to the lockout.

Does that sound like someone willing to sit down and talk about a “fair and just contract”? It's like someone saying they're willing to talk, as long as they don't have to say anything.

In addition, the word “negotiation,” as defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary, is “discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.” If 303 out of 312 people voting on a contract turn it down, it seems highly unlikely that an agreement will be forthcoming without some change in what's being discussed. One would even think it disingenuous of Kongsberg officials to feel such an agreement was even possible.

When I look at statements made by Nymoen and Dawson, I also read the subtext: In effect, what they really mean, but don't actually say.

First, Dawson says the temporary workers are just that and won’t get permanent jobs. However, Nymoen says the company feels there are American workers who will work for the wages it wants to pay (9 bucks an hour) and notes that the temp workers have basically shown the company was right by doing just that. Does that sound like they want their union workers back?

Nymoen, always the reasonable guy, then says he is in Van Wert to listen. Of course, the only people he has listened to so far are management people, but he says he would like to hear the union’s side as well. Makes you wonder why, though, if he was so eager to hear from guys like USW Local 1-524 President Aaron Collins, he didn’t set up a meeting beforehand so they could sit down right off. I guess local Kongsberg management officials don’t know where Collins could be located. If he wasn’t locked out, he probably would have been at the plant. Go figure.

There’s also what I think is a veiled threat in the Nymoen statements. Nymoen states that, failing to attempt to work through a contract with union workers would have meant, and I quote: “the plant would have been shut down by the spring of 2009.” Makes me think that was the plan all along, but I’m probably just cynical.

I WILL agree with Mr. Nymoen’s unspoken inference that someone is being greedy here. However, it isn’t union workers trying to earn enough to pay their bills who are greedy, but company officials who want blue-collar workers to shoulder ALL the costs of becoming competitive, while they continue to rake in mounds of cash for socking it to them.

The main unanswered question in this whole Kongsberg mess is this: If the company is not competitive, what sacrifices are its white-collar workers and top executives making to improve that? The unspoken answer to that is “finding cheaper blue-collar workers.”

If that were NOT the answer, we in the media would certainly have been bombarded with information on white-collar wage cuts and downsizing. After all, those actions make the company look good when negotiating with the union.

When you’re taking cuts as well, you can say this to the union: “Why are you unwilling to take a wage cut when we’re making financial sacrifices ourselves to make this company more competitive?”

Has anybody heard Kongsberg officials say anything like that? I haven’t.

Of course, if you do say that, you then have to prove your sacrifices are as great as those you’re asking of the union, but that would likely be the case, wouldn’t it, if becoming competitive were a team effort?

Moreover, Kongsberg knew what the financial situation was when they bought the local Teleflex plant. Apparently, Teleflex was doing all right with the plant. If Kongsberg can't run the plant at a profit, maybe they need to sell it to someone who can.

I don’t know about my fellow community members, but I, for one, am sick of a company that thinks it can operate like the “union-busting” companies of the 1930s that hired scabs to replace union workers, goons to enforce their will on those locked out, and threats to force them to comply. Sound familiar?

Unlike most members of the Van Wert community, Kongsberg officials obviously only see their union workers as obstacles to their own greed, rather than as neighbors and friends just trying to make a living.

How very sad.

--Dave Mosier

You can show Dave some love at his e-mail address: editor@vwindependent.com I think his analysis of Kongsberg Automotive's greed is dead on. And what's more, the greed aspect sure reminds me a lot of what's been happening on WallStreet. At what point do American workers stand up and say enough already? I know how we can, by putting pressure on Kongsberg Automotive to acutally bargain in good faith AND run a profitable operation in Van Wert without trying to run a greedy one. I suppose, that's too much to ask for from Kongsberg Automotive. I know, wait a day, they'll announce the plant closure and its subsequent move to Poland. See President Buch, I didn't forget Poland.

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From AP (and no, still not a fan of AP for lots of previously stated reasons)

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week increased by 25,000 from the week before. The unemployment rate in May jumped to 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in April. It was the biggest one-month gain in 22 years.

"The American people are waiting to see if Congress is going to help them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

But the White House already has threatened to veto the bill, and Senate Democrats have said they won't try and force their Republican colleagues to consider the House legislation.

Okay, so Reid isn't going to waste several weeks battling over a bill that will never be considered (meaning that Republicans will block it by voting to continue debate, i.e., cloture), so Reid, has decided that he wants to make sure that unemployment benefits are extended, and what better way than to attach it to a bill Republicans won't defeat:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will try to bring up the House bill, but he won't force the issue if Senate Republicans object. "We're not wasting weeks" on it, he said. Instead, Reid said, Democrats might attach the jobless benefits extension to the Iraq war spending bill, a move also opposed by the White House.

Nice, Reid, nice, I applaud your resolve to help American workers.

Of course, the article goes on to listen to the whining Republicans who seem to think it's okay to fund war, but not help out Americans like those in Van Wert who've been locked at by Kongsberg Automotive.

And just to be even more clear, how much are we talking in weekly benefits for these workers? Depends on what state you live in, for instance, if you are one of the Janesville GM workers who will lose your job due to the closure of the facility, you're looking at a weekly benefit of: $278.89 while the Moraine Ohio worker would get $299.55. But if you're one of those mortgage industry folks working in Mississippi, you can expect to receive $178.67.

Now for everyone thinking wow, that's free money, think of it this way, at minimum wage of $5.25 an hour and 40 hours a week, these same people would earn $210 a week. On the other hand, they are likely losing a job that paid $500 to $1000 a week with benefits and now, they're getting almost nothing with no benefits.

So, explain to me why it's okay to screw workers? I'm sure there's some great explanation about Market forces and how raising the minimum wage destroys the economy, but I have to wonder how many of these people talking about market forces have any idea what it's like trying to get by on $178.67 a week with no benefits. I'm guessing, there's no clue on their part.

You can check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics info on the Washington Post.

If you're in Ohio this weekend, head out to Van Wert

United Steelworkers of America Local 1-524 is organizing the rally set to kick off at noon at Fountain Park, located at Main and Jefferson.

Judy Grubb, union vice president, said the rally is a chance to boost morale for the workers at the Kongsberg Automotive plant who have been locked out since April 2. The company locked out more than 300 employees who had voted against ratifying the existing labor contract because the company sought to slash wages

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That's what United Steelworkers were told in Van Wert Ohio nearly 5 weeks ago. Give it up or the company would lock them out.

So, guess what happened?

Yep, they locked them out.

A local Van Wert blogger summed it up last week:

A lot of why American companies can’t compete on a global market is because of lazy incompetent company managers from CEO on down. It’s pretty brainless to simply market your product via production by sweat shop laborers. From a market standpoint people will always prefer quality to quantity. I am using China as an example but there are many more foreign companies buying up top of the line U.S. companies that run them into the ground. Look at the stuff we buy in stores today and compare it to stuff we bought 20-30 years ago. From a quality standpoint its probably 50% less then it was back when we bought from our neighbors. Remember the day? I sure do!

It's a pretty good summary, but try this one on for size :

Peter Spencer, the Group Executive and President of the Kongsberg Driveline Systems, sat inside the offices and calmly discussed the labor situation between United Steel Worker employees and Kongsberg Automotive. In a nutshell, he explained the current situation is a confluence of the global economy and the woes of the automotive industry. United States manufacturers are no longer bidding against other United States manufacturers. They are in competition with suppliers from all over the world.

"We're in a situation here with our driveline section, my intention is to make this business profitable and sustainable," Spencer said. "From the business point of view, we're going to stay on the right side of the ethical line and the legal line. That's our commitment to all of our employees and I think that we take that very seriously.

"However, we are where we are and, as of today, we've got a very large opportunity on the table from a global customer, $30 million as it happens, but I need to quote them and the bottom line is the customer has told me very simply that if you quote this at fifteen bucks an hour, you haven't got it. If you quote this at $9 an hour, you've got a good chance."

Hey, but don't worry, Spencer has all the answers:

"So there is only one outcome to this and that's closure (without the wage concessions)," he said. "You have to ask if you want a factory here for the next 12 months or the next ten years."

Yum, did you catch that? Oh,wait, I hadn't told you yet, this is Kongsberg's history , closing plants. And wait, closing profitable plants, like the Amotfors seat heating system plant in Sweden.

The reorganisation reflects persistent margin pressure in the European automotive industry, Kongsberg Automotive said.

"We are one of the world's leading suppliers of seat heating systems for cars. To maintain this position we must adapt our production costs to a level which yield acceptable earnings also in future," said Olav Volldal, CEO of Kongsberg Automotive.

"The potential closure is not because our employees have not performed. It is due to the significant cost gap between high cost and low cost countries," Volldal added.

Sweet, huh?

So, that had me thinking. They were willing to close a profitable plant on the hopes that they'll be even more profitable when they pay lower wages and move out of high environmental standard Sweden and into low environmental standard Polland. But best of all is probably the line form their Fourth Quarter 2005 annual report where they noted:

The Group is reporting a tax cost percentage of 26 % in 2005. The tax cost is around 28 % for all the countries where Kongsberg Automotive operates, except for Poland where the tax rate is 19 % and the USA where the tax rate is around 33 %. There are no taxes payable for the Norwegian operations due to significant tax loss carryforward related to the Raufoss acquisition.

Do you see the tax base numbers? 33% for the US and 19% when they do business in Poland. So, how long will it be before they move the Van Wert Teleflex operations to Poland?

Sure seems as if this is their kind of business model...acquire patent technologies and then burn the communities where these items are made as they move to less taxing, less environmental standard countries. I really doubt this lock out has anything to do with the workers and everything to do with the way Kongsberg sees the US, as 33% tax. Looks as if they just want to lower the tax rate, costs for doing business and of course labor costs to that of Poland. Come on Poland, what happened to Solidarity?

Nothing more has changed in the lock out since I wrote on it just last week. Well, one thing has changed,

Locked out Kongsberg Automotive workers wait in a hallway at Trinity Friends Church for the opportunity to shop at the church's food pantry. Carolyn Garwood of Trinity Friends reported that the pantry was opened to the workers for three hours Friday morning and that 90 families were helped through the effort.

The thing that's changed is these families are now finding that their community supports them. No one outside of Van Wert Ohio seems to be talking about this Norwegian company and their desire to close plants to "pass the savings on to their customers". I wonder how much Spencer and Volldal are spending on groceries right now. Somehow, I think it's more than what their employees are. Seems like the Van Wert local blogger called it...this is what's wrong with our country and after 8 years of this, it's time we say to hell with this bullshit.

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So, I'm originally from Ohio and I figured I'd take a look at the local Van Wert papers to see if I could locate any information on the lock out. I found some interesting comments about it on The Van Wert Times Bulletin:

Posted: Monday, April 07, 2008
Article comment by: laura davis

Niki you have voiced a question that many, MANY, people are asking today. Over 300 people were locked out of their jobs last week. Three hundred productive, tax-paying voters who want nothing more than to do an honest day's work for a reasonable day's wage. Van Wert county's unemployment rate is already higher than we've seen in many, many years, yet after locking out those workers our elected officials "stand ready to assist the company in any way they can?" And they are there to "offer support to the company and to local officials?" These statements have many people puzzling over our elected official's priorities. If they have our community's best interests at heart, would they not be more concerned with finding a solution to help BOTH parties in this situation rather than "assist and support" the company alone? This lockout is going to have a negative effect on the community in countless ways, and I believe that everyone in the area would like to see it resolved satisfactorily for EVERYONE involved.

Posted: Monday, April 07, 2008
Article comment by: niki motycka

Why are the state and local governments putting their support behind the company? I understand that it is important for Van Wert to keep as many of the current businesses but, what about the workers who are now walking the street? It was the company's decision to lock the doors. I know many people who have worked at Teleflex for many years and are now being asked to take a $9 an hour pay cut. I wish that everyone in this community would sit back and think about this. If you had worked at a company for the last 25 years and then all of a sudden a couple of dollars is taken away from your hourly rate. Ok you are upset but at least you still have your job and health insurance. Then that same company wants you to give up $9 more. What are you supposed to do? That company wants the workers who have put in most of there lives to work for only $9 on hour. After taxes that is only about $300 a week. If you have kids you cannot hardly make it on that. Why are we sitting here and letting our local government take the side of the company when we elected them to represent us? With gas prices and living expenses soaring I think all of our government officials need to reevaluate this suituation.

And this story from the same paper:

Kongsberg lockout: Day 1
BY ED GEBERT

Times Bulletin News Writer

egebert@timesbulletin.com

VAN WERT - The first full day of the lockout at Kongsberg Automotive saw no changes in either labor or management positions. Workers who voted down the auto parts manufacturer's contract offer stood just off company property with picket signs. Meanwhile private security remained on site at the facility to make sure the locked out workers stayed out.

Early in the morning hours, windows at the facility were boarded up and private buses began bringing in replacement workers to make parts for considerably less wages than the locked-out employees.

Meanwhile city officials expressed their hope for an early end to the lockout. "I just hope the union and company management can get this worked out," stated Nancy Bowen, Van Wert County economic development director. "I think everybody feels the same. We'll do anything we can do to help, and I've let the company know that."

Bowen revealed that she will be meeting Friday morning with company officials to see if anything can be done to resolve the situation.

"We don't know if there is anything we can do, but we're going to explore it and see," Bowen explained. "It's really an issue between the union and the company, but it always helps to talk and at least let the company know that they are important to our community and our economy."

Van Wert Mayor Louie Ehmer agreed that the presence of Kongsberg in Van Wert is important. "If they would shut down we could lose a lot of tax money, close to a quarter of a million dollars a year."

Ehmer shared that he had personally visited the site of the lockout to be sure there were no problems related to the city. Van Wert City Police Chief Joel Hammonds confirmed that through the day on Thursday there had been no legal issues at the factory site.

"There have been no problems," he said. "Both sides have been great. They've set up and they are within the law, and that's all we ask from both sides."

Some of the union workers had expressed concern that police cruisers were present, wondering aloud if officers were there to protect incoming replacement workers. Hammonds flatly denied that charge.

"Our policy stipulates that we are neutral," he declared. "We're just to insure that the public peace is kept and that traffic can move to and from the facility and surrounding businesses. That's our role. We've been patrolling out there to maintain the peace."

Or these Worker Voices on the Van Wert Independent

Woman of Kongsberg worker concerned
To The Editor:

Being a family that is affected by the recent developments at Kongsberg Automotive (Teleflex), I feel compelled to write to ask (for) the support of the Van Wert and surrounding community. I think some people are of the opinion that these displaced workers are on strike, which is not the case ... these people WANT to work and were willing to continue working under their current contract until something could be ratified. The COMPANY chose to lock these people out and bring in employees from a temporary staffing company. This was the choice of the COMPANY not the UNION EMPLOYEES. These people are your neighbors, your children, or even grandchildren, and are trying to achieve the American dream: To own their own home, to provide nice things for their families.

My husband is a 29-year employee at Kongsberg, this being the only job he has known since graduation from high school. I think that it is totally unfair to ask these people to take a cut in pay as the company is asking. After 29 years to only make $10 an hour ... this is mind boggling at best to even imagine that this could even be given a yes vote. I would like to commend the local businesses who have said they will not cross the lines to provide services to Kongsberg and also wonder if the Fair Board is endorsing the activity of letting these people park their cars on their grounds and allowing the busing of these people into the plant.

If they do stand behind this, I can guarantee that there will be at least 350 families that will boycott the Van Wert County Fair this year.

The trickle down will be seen quickly, these people will no longer be spending money to go to the gym for workouts ... no longer be spending as much money at the grocery stores or eating establishments. Please, drive by these workers on Industrial Drive, honk your horn in support of their cause, and know that they are not looking to prosper – only to maintain their current level of income ... they are not asking for a huge raise, but have stated on numerous occasions that they would hold with their current wage.

With the rising cost of gas and everything else, I think this is commendable. Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion.

Michelle Brincefield

Van Wert
via email

>snip<

Kongsberg: Not bargaining in good faith
To the editor:

It should be obvious to the good citizens of Van Wert and the surrounding area that Kongsberg is not bargaining in good faith. With a single, swift, unethical maneuver they have put over 300 people out of work. Many of these people are individuals with whom I personally worked until 1992.
For all of you wonderful owners of Kongsberg who supposedly want so badly to bring these people back to work let me tell you that they are much more than just numbers. They are people, real flesh and blood people who have given a good portion of their lives to work at your Van Wert facility and produce the quality automotive parts that make your profits. I can remember many of them going through personal crisis after personal crisis and still coming to work. I can remember at least one of the employees giving the ultimate sacrifice and ending up being carried out on a stretcher, never to return.
Even after being wronged in various ways over the years by the previous owners, Teleflex, these dedicated workers stayed on the job and gave you an honest day's work. Kongsberg, I think most people can see that you have no intention of settling this lockout. You have the mindset and mentality of 19th century industrialists. I truly think that if you could get away with it you would hire 12 year olds and pay them a dollar a day.
Now, you have added insult to injury by denying these workers unemployment. Many of these people have serious medical conditions and require expensive medications. Do they eat or do they get their medicine? Maybe neither. I simply do not see how any company can be so heartless.
The previous writer was correct that the damage is going to go much further than the individuals who are now unemployed. Every business in the area is going to feel the sting. All of Van Wert is going to suffer and the tax base will decrease dramatically. The next bond up for vote in Van Wert might be doomed to rejection. City Fathers, think about that.
I also agree with the comment about the fair board allowing the scabs to use the fairgrounds and I really hope that each and every one of these workers remember the "thoughtfulness" of the fair board. Not only will many of these people boycott the next fair but even if they wanted to, many of them won't have the extra money to spend on the fair. What goes around comes around.
As far as the scabs themselves, yes, I know they need jobs, too, but at the expense of their neighbors? That's totally unacceptable.
I will close by saying that no matter what happens the good workers of Kongsberg will hold their heads up high because they were not the cause of this and I sincerely think … no, I KNOW that Kongsberg's so called leaders will someday get their reward for this gross injustice.

Gary Lane
Van Wert
via email
4/12


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kongsberg management given shot
To the Editor:
In the day of global economy and the fierce competition it would be understandable the companies are looking for ways to reduce cost, but should it not start at the TOP management, including the CEO paychecks?
Did Kongsberg not know the pay scale when they made the purchase? Was it their intent all along to get rid of the current workforce? Will the CEO get a BIG bonus for putting over 300 families out of work? How does the Board of Directors of the company justify that? Or does it matter, it doesn't affect them … yet.
Can the top management live on what they expect the employees to? Are they willing to take the same percentage cut in pay? People have built their lives around wages they have been earning for years and had no reason to believe this drastic of cuts would happen.

Who is going to buy all the homes that will be foreclosed on or the vehicles that will be repossessed? The CEO of Kongsberg?

If all companies continue to do this, who is going to have the money to buy any of the products (including cars) being made? China? Mexico? Brazil?

The concept that you start with the workforce that makes the company products, therefore producing the money that pays EVERYONE does not hold water You don't bite the hand that feeds you. I am self-employed and know that I cannot expect employees to bite the bullet when I am not willing to do it also.

It seems common sense has been left out of the equation.

America has sold its soul (land, companies, etc.) to foreign companies for the almighty dollar and the foreign companies do not care about their employees or what they do to them and the communities. This (Kongsberg) is a good example.

I believe employees would be willing to negotiate and be reasonable but it seems they have not been given that opportunity by Kongsberg. It was their way or be LOCKED OUT. That's the American way? If you don't like the American way of life, stay where you are.

Georgianna Adkins

Van Wert
via email
4/12


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer upset over Kongsberg actions
To the Editor:
I have a question for Mr. Aberdeen, plant manager of Kongsberg. Why haven't you paid your property taxes? As of now, you owe $21,929 in back taxes and penalties. You won't pay your taxes, you refuse to negotiate in good faith with you employees and you feel compelled to bring in "security" to maintain the peace. These aren't the actions of a company "committed" to the Van Wert plant. These are the actions of a company looking to provoke an excuse to abandon the Van Wert plant.

So when does Kongsberg intend to tell us they're moving the product line to their new 350,000 SF plant in Brazil? And the 300 plus employees left in Van Wert are the victims of the "global economy?"
Kirby R. Kelly
Van Wert
via email
4/10

The local media in Van Wert is at least talking about it. Doesn't seem to be anywhere else right now.

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So, I've been reading and talking to Joe about the news of the lock out in Van Wert county, Ohio (my home state).

I decided to do a little digging into Kongsberg. Norway is a trade unionist country with very strong ties to the international trade unions among European countries. So, I decided to look at their 4th quarter annual report to see what they had to say.

Apparently, they had a loss of revenue (they lost money) when they closed their Amotfors seat heating system plant.

Norwegian vehicle components maker Kongsberg Automotive Holding ASA announced on Friday (28 September) that it has initiated employee negotiations regarding a possible closure of its seat heating systems plant in Amotfors, Sweden.

Kongsberg Automotive said that it plans to transfer the operations to its existing production facilities in Poland in order to reduce costs.

The reorganisation reflects persistent margin pressure in the European automotive industry, Kongsberg Automotive said.

"We are one of the world's leading suppliers of seat heating systems for cars. To maintain this position we must adapt our production costs to a level which yield acceptable earnings also in future," said Olav Volldal, CEO of Kongsberg Automotive.

"The potential closure is not because our employees have not performed. It is due to the significant cost gap between high cost and low cost countries," Volldal added.

The restructuring of the operations will affect 90 employees in Amotfors.

So, that had me thinking. They were willing to close a profitable plant on the hopes that they'll be even more profitable when they pay lower wages and move out of high environmental standard Sweden and into low environmental standard Polland. But best of all is probably the line form their Fourth Quarter 2005 annual report where they noted:

The Group is reporting a tax cost percentage of 26 % in 2005. The tax cost is around 28 % for all the countries where Kongsberg Automotive operates, except for Poland where the tax rate is 19 % and the USA where the tax rate is around 33 %. There are no taxes payable for the Norwegian operations due to significant tax loss carryforward related to the Raufoss acquisition.

Do you see the tax base numbers? 33% for the US and 19% when they do business in Poland. So, how long will it be before they move the Van Wert Teleflex operations to Poland?

Sure seems as if this is their kind of business model...acquire patent technologies and then burn the communities where these items are made as they move to less taxing, less environmental standard countries. I really doubt this lock out has anything to do with the workers and everything to do with the way Kongsberg sees the US, as 33% tax. Looks as if they just want to lower the tax rate, costs for doing business and of course labor costs to that of Poland. Come on Poland, what happened to Solidarity?

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