Dave Watts was sure his small union local in Decatur was bound for a fight, and a real tough one, and that he needed some tough-minded, ambitious experts to show his people the way.
So the president of Allied Industrial Workers Union Local 837 got them.
He also got into a fight with A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., one that promises to spread beyond this conservative, heavily blue-collar Downstate community.
Indeed, his search for new tactics reflects the frustration of unions fearful of striking and being replaced, but also fearful of not standing up.
His local, which has been working without a contract since Sept. 30, is waging a boycott campaign against Michigan-based First of America Bank Corp. because officials from Staley and Caterpillar Inc., which survived a bitter strike earlier this year, sit on its boards.
Though bank officials in Kalamazoo say the boycott has had ”little impact” on their operations in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, Local 837`s leaders say a number of unions have withdrawn money from branches.
The corporate campaign arises from the fact that Local 837, which has not staged a strike in 22 years, is being advised by two of the labor movement`s two toughest strategists in its feud with Staley.
– One is Ray Rogers, who is considered both brilliant and sometimes out of control and who is most remembered for leading the bitter strike eight years ago by the United Food and Commercial Workers union against the Geo. A. Hormel Co. in Austin, Minn.
His specialty is high-profile corporate campaigns that pit workers against businesses and go after banks and the links among company officials.
– The other is Jerry Tucker, a former United Auto Workers regional director in St. Louis, who made his name by leading factory job actions. He fell out of favor in Detroit by challenging the union`s leadership and now heads a rebel movement in the UAW.
Seeking Rogers` and Tucker`s guidance in a conservative community had its risks, concedes Watts. But Watts, president of the 800-member local, says he failed to get prompt help from mainstream labor leaders and decided he had no other choice.
”If it takes a hard-line approach to fight a hard-line business out to destroy unions, then so be it. We`ll take a hard-line approach,” he said.
Tucker especially relishes taking on Staley while the UAW is fighting Peoria-based Caterpillar, which forced the union`s members to return to work last April under threat of bringing in strikebreakers.
”Central Illinois has literally become the most-watched battleground as far as the labor movement is concerned,” he said.
Staley officials deny, however, any desires to beat the union and doubt their dispute deserves national attention.
”This is an issue over change,” said J. Patrick Mohan, executive vice president of the 87-year-old firm, which has 10 plants nationwide and is one of the country`s top producers of sweeteners and starches.
The company`s goal in recent negotiations, he said, was working out a contract that would ”allow Staley in Decatur to be competitive.” The facility`s financial returns ”are inadequate,” he said.
To the union, the showdown began building in the last contract talks, in 1989. It was the first contract negotiated since the firm`s purchase in 1988 by the British agribusiness conglomerate, Tate & Lyle PLC of London.
”It was clear they would take us on in a big way in `92, and we tried to figure how we would take them on without lying down,” said Watts.
In talks for a contract to replace the one that expired Sept. 30, wages were not the major issue, say union and company officials.
The union sought a pay increase over three years of $1.20 an hour, or 8 percent, for the average worker, who now receives $13.43 an hour.
Staley was offering a 10 percent increase, but that included a signing bonus and future bonuses for higher skills. What troubled the union was Staley`s proposed work-rule changes, which, among other things, call for rotating shifts and bonuses based on skills, not seniority.
The union`s members overwhelmingly rejected the offer.
Fearing Staley would hire replacement workers, the union did not strike when the contract ran out. Staley also has said it would not lock workers out if the plant continues to operate ”in a normal fashion.”
Under Rogers, the union has since stepped up its corporate campaign. It also has sought money from unions across the U.S. for the campaign and has raised about $100,000, according to Watts.
First of America, the nation`s 35th largest banking company with 551 branches in three states, became the union`s target, according to Rogers, because Staley`s chairman, Robert Powers, is a director of First of America Bank-Decatur.
Likewise, the local said First of America is a legitimate target because James Wogsland, vice chairman of Caterpillar, sits on the board of First of America Bancorp and First of America Bank-Illinois.
One union that heeded the boycott call was UAW Local 2488 in Bloomington, which withdrew $35,000 last month from a local First of America branch.
”There is only one thing people understand, and it is money,” said Dave Bevans, president of Local 2488.
So, too, Laborers Union Local 159 in Decatur has pulled $180,000 out of the local First of America bank. ”We`ve got to start thinking about each other,” said Powers Claypool, secretary-treasurer.
Bank officials have dealt with the campaign by emphasizing that they are neutral observers who hope only for a prompt resolution.
”It is unfortunate because we truly are outsiders. We have no control or influence,” said Tony Thompson, a First of America spokesman in Kalamazoo.
As for the campaign in Staley`s facilities, Tucker would say only that the workers are carrying out an ”in-plant strategy,” which often means a slowdown. Staley officials say they have seen no production-line changes, however.
”It isn`t a slowdown,” said Tucker. ”It is a matter of doing what the job requires, but only at a very basic minimum.”
The union`s next steps, said Watts, will be expanding its boycott to more UAW workers in Michigan and the possible boycott of products sold by the conglomerate, such as Domino Sugar and Western Sugar.
”The company may have smirked when we first became involved, but they are not smiling any more,” said Rogers. ”We are in the ring with them and we have their attention.”
