Local 2240 - A True Class Act

In construction, you head off to work knowing that your time on the job is limited. Whether it’s the phase of the project or its completion, we move on to the next job in which we apply our skills. Unfortunately, that was not the case for members of the Council’s Industrial Sector Local 2240 this month. The month of October 2009 ended up being the month of unemployment for all the members of Local 2240. I’d like to supply a little background about Local 2240 and what they have been through.

The Local was organized in 1968 with just a handful of members. They were employed in two facilities a short distance from downtown Indiana, PA. Members worked in Dixonville, manufacturing chalkboards, marker boards, and trophy and display cases, while the remainder of the membership who worked a mile or two down the road in Clymer manufactured casework and countertops.

In recent years, members of the Council’s Industrial Local 2240 numbered over 250. Some ten years ago, this Local took major steps backwards in wages and benefits to preserve jobs. Last year again they ended up freezing wages and giving back every advancement they made in medical benefits when they ratified a new agreement in order to keep the plant working.

The membership number has fluctuated due to a corporate decision to move work to the state of California for lower wages and no benefits. This turned out to be a disastrous decision and, after many customer complaints, the work was returned to Dixonville. Once work returned to Dixonville, the corporation made the decision to stop all manufacturing when commitments were fulfilled.

The decision to close this facility was not based on the performance of these members. Every time the corporation added a new item to their catalog of finished goods, Local 2240 was given the assignment. Among the corporation’s manufacturing facilities, no one could match their ingenuity, dedication or skill – they are the best at what they do! The corporation decided manufacturing didn’t fit their new corporate model. After several attempts to sell off the business hit snags and the backlog of work was finished, the owner closed the door for the last time.

I asked Rod Goodlin, the Financial Secretary of Local 2240, to supply the caption for the photos taken on their last day of work.

“On October 29, 2009, the members of Local Union 2240 rolled off the last cabinet built by our membership at 9:00 am. With 31 members remaining in OUR shop, we completed the final order on our schedule and will now say farewell to an industry that we worked in and served since 1964. As we gathered around the last cabinet, we signed the back and wrote our years of service beside our names. A total of 578 years of service from 31 members were put into our final assignment and, with pride, we stamped our Union Label on the back of another job well done!”

It has been an honor for the Regional Council and myself to have be associated with such a good group of UNION WORKERS!

By John Ambrogio, Council Representative