Kohler Strike Ends

Rick Romell

Kohler, union reach tentative deal on new contract - Negotiators for Kohler Co. and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract, the local union president said Tuesday night.

If approved by the membership of UAW Local 833, the deal would end a strike by some 2,000 workers that began four and a half weeks ago.

The tentative agreement was reached about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Local 833 President Tim Tayloe. Members will vote on it at a meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Plymouth High School.

Tayloe said he could not speak about the terms of the agreement until after the vote.

But a statement released by the company late Tuesday described the tentative agreement as a four-year pact that "features increased wages and benefits in all four years."

The statement said that the Local 833 bargaining committee is unanimously recommending ratification by the union membership.

The statement quoted Tayloe as saying, "We worked very hard to reach an agreement that addresses all of the key areas crucial to the future of our members. The agreement significantly brings one tier associate pay closer to the other, while also providing substantial wage increases in each year of the contract. All benefits have been enhanced and the modifications to the health care plans have reduced the potential for increased out-of-pocket costs to our membership."

The two biggest issues in the dispute have been health care costs and a two-tier pay system, in effect since 2010, that pays newly hired workers significantly less than longer-tenured employees.

"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement that recognizes the contributions of our associates and positions our local, Wisconsin operations to be more competitive in the future," company CEO and President David Kohler said in the statement. "The common ground that we share is more important than any differences we may have — and this agreement reflects that."

Members of Local 833, which represents about 2,000 workers at Kohler's kitchen and bath ware plant in the Village of Kohler and at a generator factory north of Sheboygan, went on strike Nov. 15. The strike, the first at the company since a 16-day walkout in 1983 and one of a relative handful nationwide in recent years, came after members of the union rejected Kohler's "last, best and final contract offer" by a 94% margin.

Negotiations had ended shortly before the strike vote. Chief among the employees' objections to Kohler's offer were increased health insurance costs, and the company's continuation of the two-tier wage scale. The two-tier system dates to 2010, when Local 833 members voted to accept a company contract proposal that included a five-year wage freeze, higher health insurance costs, and the structure establishing significantly lower pay for new hires.

If the contract is ratified, employees will return to work on Thursday morning.