Any update on Cam's status?

S

Sword and Shield

Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
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I can't let my favorite maker of Scout knives sink without asking. Any updates? Any idea what would happen to the big-$ contracts (mil and Scout) if they did drop? Any chance of their being absorbed by another US maker?
 
the last article in the paper said they refused to sell-
they are still going-my micarta handles for my becker arrived today
 
Here's to hoping they find a reasonable solution for their problems. Losing Schrade was hard, but those were just work knives to me. Trusted ones, but work knives.

My Cam Scout, though? Part of me.
 
Sword and Shield said:
Here's to hoping they find a reasonable solution for their problems. Losing Schrade was hard, but those were just work knives to me. Trusted ones, but work knives.

My Cam Scout, though? Part of me.
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They are great, I just got my first one this week, it's a Remington R4, Camillus made though.

Remington-R4.jpg
 
Doesn't it seem like Camillus is just waiting for its unionized workers to walk away?


(And just hanging on with a "skeleton" crew of management and ownership.)
Then they will hire non union workers and be able to continue in business. Are they legally allowed to do that?
 
That would be nice if they continued somehow. I love my camilus products. Why wouldnt they be allowed to ditch the union workers for a non union set of workers? Its been done before.
 
Ditching union workers is unfair labor practice. It is illegal in most fair jurisdictions. It is breaking an agreement to negotiate. With no unions, everyone would be reduced to working for crap wages. There are no unions in China!
 
as an ex union representative I know where you are coming from. Here in Indiana that very thing has been done and held up.I was a union rep in SPFPA.
 
wicked1 said:
That would be nice if they continued somehow. I love my camilus products. Why wouldnt they be allowed to ditch the union workers for a non union set of workers? Its been done before.
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as a fan of the brand i've been following these posts and have been hoping that the brand would survive. the actions by management could very well be a play to bust the union, especially since the company asked for concessions earlier{unreasonable concessions} management could play the role of the victim of union demands. however another even darker idea on the part of management could be to simply move all production to china in order to make bigger profits. if this happens I for one will sell all my camillus products and talk really bad about them to all. I really thought the company was trying to reform and get back on it's feet here with american workers but this post about union busting made me think. i hope i'm wrong but time will tell. and yes i'm a union member of the IAFF and have been for 21 years. but union member or not this whole thing is starting to stink. ahgar
 
Actually, what I hate in these union vs company situations is when the company uses the concessions to smoothly transfer production out of the U.S. while slowly reducing the workforce.

Allows them to state they are a U.S. company. Yep, don't see good things happening in any eventual outcome.
 
wicked1 said:
That would be nice if they continued somehow. I love my camilus products. Why wouldnt they be allowed to ditch the union workers for a non union set of workers? Its been done before.
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Quickest way to that end usually includes closing up shop then re-opening under a different name. Common practice, it seems with trucking companies and smaller manufacturing plants. I worked for one that went through it (after the "re-opening").

I've seen union eployees that pull their weight and are proud of what they do, but on the other side of the coin, I've seen union employees that are the bane of productivity.

I'd hate to see the current Camillus crew pushed out if they fit into the former as opposed to the latter. I'm afraid that replacing the current staff with non-union employees will result in lower quality, higher employee turn-over, and eventually a complete closure of the company because the powers that be bet the company on cheap labor that doesn't give a rats *** about the end product as much as they do their pay check.

Just my 2¢
 
So I guess we are still in the "wait and see" mode about Camillus - the same as we've been in for a while now.

Maybe (I hope!) Camillus will stay in business and keep production of at least some of its knives in the USA. (Becker, CUDA, some others.) With high quality. Kind of like what Benchmade is doing. And Buck. And Spyderco.
 
rifon2 said:
Maybe (I hope!) Camillus will stay in business and keep production of at least some of its knives in the USA.
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Camillus Cutlery might keep some production of their higher priced knives
at the current location, to remain an US based company with production
in the USA, but move most of the production to Taiwan and China.

I guess most customers won't care as long as the knives are inexpensive
and the quality is reasonable for the price.

But as long as the Camillus management doesn't make an official announcement
it's only speculation.

In my opinion it looks like a closure of the US based production and moving
it to Asia, especially as the current production in the USA doesn't seem to
be profitable for Camillus.

Or Camillus goes out of business and the trademark rights get sold to the
highest bidding investor.
 
Andy_CN said:
Camillus Cutlery might keep some production of their higher priced knives
at the current location, to remain an US based company with production
in the USA, but move most of the production to Taiwan and China.
Click to expand...

Well, Buck and Benchmade have been able to do it this way.
Maybe Camillus will be able to do so as well.
 
Camillus opened to the union their books.Lost money for long time.Aug.10th $90,000 power bill due could be important date.Bank does not yet know what to do.Bank is hurting on this loan.
 
Could you please provide more details about the financial situation at Camillus Cutlery
or, if available, post the weblink to these information? Thanks in advance :)

Do you know any other info sources than Syracuse.com where news and articles
about the current situation at Camillus Cutlery are available?
 
Hello,
According to union officials Camilus Cutlery is about 2.8 mil. in debt. Altogether with bank, utilities, suppliers, etc. it's a lot more. I don't know of any other resources that you could find info because they're not talking to anyone. Sorry that I couldn't provide more info. There are about 58 union people still walking. The heat has been hard on them. A customer tried to have his knife sharpened this past week but was refused by the office. It would have only taken a few minutes. There are a couple management people in there that would have been glad to help. There have been some offers to buy the company but owners refused to talk.
 
Quick review here:

Annual sales are about half that was stated;
Right now our understanding is that basically the only customers left are Mooremaker and the Boy Scouts. Everyone else has pulled their business including the government (with the exception of one knife);
No product (steel, covers, packaging, etc.) is being bought;
Utica Cutlery is supposedly in talks about purchasing Camillus;
Part Owner Gil Kaufman has resigned his self-appointed position of Vice President and given up his six-figure salary and gone into hiding in Florida;
Camillus is being run by "crisis-managers" backed apparently by the bank;
We (the Union) continue to picket in hopes of returning to the bargaining table and to work;
Orders are still being taken with no intention of ever fulfilling them;
All foriegn imports have been cut off as well for non-payment.

Some of this is purely speculation (ex. six figure salary but not far off) but most is genuine fact. It doesn't look like it will be too long before the whole truth about this comes out.
 
Camillus Cutlery and it's dirty little secrets. One thing that they have excelled in is doing nothing and saying nothing. The demise of the company has been an accumlation of lack of investment back into the company and having the leadership knowledge to make it work. One thing that we know for certain, the company will never be the same if it continues or has its workers back. I always said in the past few years I could hear Camillus Cutlery being flushed down the toilet and no-one seemed to know what to do about it. No- one listened anyway even when there were some very good suggestions tossed they're way. Hopefully, all the dedicated workers will now find better jobs when the opportunity arises. More appreciation, cleaner environment and healthy communication.
 
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