Camillus Strike Is Over

Johnny11758

Johnny11758

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Aug 17, 2004
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465
From today's Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard:

Camillus Cutlery Strike Ends

Camillus Cutlery workers tried to return to their jobs at the troubled company this morning after union members voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract with their employer.
A company official locked the employee entrance as 50 members of Steelworkers Local 4783 attempted to enter the building to begin their 7 a.m. shift.
Union and company officials then met for about 10 minutes.
When union officials returned, they told waiting workers that the company will call about 15 of the 78 union members back to work.
Those workers will be called today and tommorrow.
The company will lay off the remaining workers, which allows the Steelworkers to apply for federal training and extended unemployment benefits available to workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition.
Members voted Wednesday to accept the same contract they had rejected at least twice before. The agreement cut wages, took away four paid holidays and two weeks of vacation, and requires workers to pay more for their health insurance.
 
Members voted Wednesday to accept the same contract they had rejected at least twice before. The agreement cut wages, took away four paid holidays and two weeks of vacation, and requires workers to pay more for their health insurance.
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A sure recipe for a steep decline in quality.
 
By my count, that 63 skilled sets of hands out in the cold. Don't know if Camillus is going to be what it once was. I've already seen some quality declines in a couple of knives.
 
So they struck for six months (to the day), then decided to accept the company's original offer, and lost 63 jobs in the process.

What is wrong with this picture?

Once-upon-a-time I was rabidly anti-union. (I won't go into the laundry list of reasons.) But, in recent years, watching what 12 years of a GOP Congress and six years of a GOP President has done to our labour force (with the tacit cooperation of most of the other side of the aisle). That's no longer the case. But still I have to say, in this case, that the union did its membership wrong. From what I've read this was a no-win strike from the get-go. All it managed to accoplish, near as I can tell, is giving the company's ownership (is that the bank, now?) more reason to move more operations off-shore, weaken the company even further, and lose most strikers their jobs.

Reminds me of the DNA workers' strike here in the Metro-Detroit area a few years ago. That one was equally as "effective."
 
the company will call about 15 of the 78 union members back to work.

The company will lay off the remaining workers...

The agreement cut wages, took away four paid holidays and two weeks of vacation, and requires workers to pay more for their health insurance.
Click to expand...

I've been through this several times as an engineer, while the union workers in the same company would escape it some of the times, all the while denyining that there was any need for the scale back other than increasing the company take. Eventually the plant or project folded/closed completely and they were out in the cold. Unions are too inflexible and hurt workers because of that.

Has Camillus replaced the workers with overseas production, or machines?
 
The original description of the machines used pre-strike, namely ancient and in ill-repair, will continue to be a significant issue regadless of workers or workers striking.

That's purely a managment issue, and one that will contue to haunt the company.
 
Johnny11758 said:
From today's Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard:

Camillus Cutlery Strike Ends

Camillus Cutlery workers tried to return to their jobs at the troubled company this morning after union members voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract with their employer.
A company official locked the employee entrance as 50 members of Steelworkers Local 4783 attempted to enter the building to begin their 7 a.m. shift.
Union and company officials then met for about 10 minutes.
When union officials returned, they told waiting workers that the company will call about 15 of the 78 union members back to work.
Those workers will be called today and tommorrow.
The company will lay off the remaining workers, which allows the Steelworkers to apply for federal training and extended unemployment benefits available to workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition.
Members voted Wednesday to accept the same contract they had rejected at least twice before. The agreement cut wages, took away four paid holidays and two weeks of vacation, and requires workers to pay more for their health insurance.
Click to expand...


A shame indeed. I worked at Camillus for 12 years starting in '72. It used to be a temporary stop on the way to Allied Chemical, Crucible Steel and other larger employers in the area. Some of us wanted to stay and make Camillus a permanent stop. We accomplished that by becoming involved in the union, rewriting the union contract, and negotiating a deal so that we could actually survive and raise families. We had 150 or so employees, now they're looking at 15 union employees who will be repacking knives made in China or some other slave nation. My 12 years of vested service towards retirement will more than likely disappear, but more of a concern is what will happen to those who have 30 or 40 years of service? Another great American icon has bitten the dust.


I had many good friends there, and wish them the best.
 
Looks like the company was on the verge of closing anyway, 15 jobs could have been saved.
 
Now we have to wait a few months to see what happens with the company and the quality of its products. Its good that they get to stay in bussiness, but I think I'll buy their products now, from the current inventory before their 'new offering' hit the street. Like Dog Man I'm concern with a decline in quality.

This will affect them, becker, Cold Steel, and who knows how many other brands. Does anyone knows who else buys its steel (in some cases finished knives) from Camillus?
 
Sounds like the union waited too long, there is no going back now. Now Camillus is nothing but a repackaging plant for foreign product. No doubt it is partly management's fault, but still sad to see. A couple of my favorite knives were made by Camillus.
 
S. Brown said:
Sweet, now cold steel can keep using their carbon v ;)
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Regardless of Camillus' plight, Cold Steel can keep using "Carbon V" steel, as that is a trademarked name of theirs for any steel they want to call "Carbon V". I, however, highly doubt that they will return to contracting with Camillus, as they have already removed the equipment they had let Camillus borrow.

Regards,
3G
 
Cool. Maybe I can finially get a Camillus CUDA Maxx 5.5". I'm sure it will still take awhile, though.
 
3Guardsmen said:
Regardless of Camillus' plight, Cold Steel can keep using "Carbon V" steel, as that is a trademarked name of theirs for any steel they want to call "Carbon V". I, however, highly doubt that they will return to contracting with Camillus, as they have already removed the equipment they had let Camillus borrow.

Regards,
3G
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Here is what the Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard reported today:


Several parties have proposed buying the [Camillus] plant, but so far the company has rejected their offers, [Camillus president James Furgal] said.

Camillus Cutlery has several lawsuits pending against it in Onondaga County court.

The company settled one last week with one of its largest customers, Cold Steel Inc., a California knife company.

Cold Steel asked for the return of several pieces of equipment used to make its knives, money due under a royalty agreement and compensation for lost sales. Camillus refused to return the equipment and asked Cold Steel to buy unfinished inventory, the complaint said.

Under the settlement agreement, Cold Steel removed its equipment last week, said Cold Steel owner Lynn Thompson.

Cold Steel lost about $1 million in sales as a result of problems at the cutlery, he said. The knives produced by Camillus for Cold Steel are used by the military, he said.

Thompson said he's had no success in finding another American manufacturer to make the knives.

"I think it's a flipping tragedy," Thompson said "We didn't want to leave there."
 
Thompson said he's had no success in finding another American manufacturer to make the knives.

"I think it's a flipping tragedy," Thompson said "We didn't want to leave there."
Click to expand...
...this probably the first time I've ever known Thompson to understate something ! :eek:

-Regards
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Any idea if BKT will be produced by another company? Or Doug Ritters BKT collaboration?
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Becker Knife & Tool will not disappear and Ethan and I still hope to bring forth our collaboration. It is no secret that Ethan is in the process of extricating himself from Camillus who are in default of their agreement. It is public record that a temporary restraining order has been issued on Camillus in this regard as part of the process. It's unfortunate that it's gone down this path, but illustrative of the attitude at Camillus towards their former business partners. It didn't have to be this way.

That's about all I can really say at this point.
 
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