Strike is over!

[Phil Gibbs]

But now what??
I fear the majority of the remaining knife workers will be laid off. I so hope I am wrong. Many of them are 3rd generation knife makers, skills that should not be cast away.

Camillus Cutlery workers approve contract
Updated: 11/16/2006 8:43 AM
By: Web Staff



Striking workers at Camillus Cutlery say they approved a new contract Wednesday night, but workers we spoke with Thursday morning say they expect the company to cut many of their jobs.

Workers gathered at the company, attempting to go back to work.

Nearly 80 workers have been on strike for six months. In May, workers voted down the company's contract offer, saying it did not guarantee jobs to a majority of the workers, and it cut wages for workers who remained with the company.

At the time, the company said they needed to make cuts because of a financial crisis.

http://www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=86278

 

[Phil Gibbs]

Thursday, November 16, 2006

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.
For more on the strike's impact on the workers and the company see Charley Hannagan's article in Friday's Post-Standard.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/updates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/syr_poststandard/archives/2006_11.html#205360

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Sounds like maybe the workers knew the end was coming and decided to take the contract feeling the layoffs would be there, but at least they would then be able to get the retraining and unemployment benefits they probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

It's still quite sad. I doubt, and I hope I'm very wrong, that Camillus will comeback to anything like it was before. Then again, if someone in there is paying attention, they might take the direction of Queen and Canal Street, focusing on a quality, more upscale knives. The kind that aren't being knocked out in the far east. That, plus the Becker line might be the ticket. Either that or they forget the tradtional market and focus on the Beckers and the tattykal folders.

We can only hope, wait, and see what happens.

 

[Guyon]

Thursday, November 16, 2006
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.

This mess makes me look at my Beckers and Camillus knives in a new light. Hell, I'd sell them if that would do any good.

Wonder if Ethan Becker is paying attention here.

 

[Mountainwind]

They said they would only need a few workers because of the plan to repackage imported knives. Is this the start of that plan??????

 

[Eyegor]

I admit that this is only a hairy a$$ed guess, but would they need veteran Union steelworkers to do repackaging? Couldn't they get young non-unionized help for that? Maybe the cutlers will be doing the Beckers?

 

[Phil Gibbs]

Ethan is paying attention!

The days of BK&T at Camillus are numbered!!

 

[mete]

Sad story but most people want to buy cheap products. I'm still having to deal with driving past the ex-Schrade factory every week !!!.....My friend works for a company that does $ 3,000,000 import business and has less than 15 warehouse people .Repackage ? They get things from overseas already with customers brand packaging !

 

[Bladite]

I admit that this is only a hairy a$$ed guess, but would they need veteran Union steelworkers to do repackaging? Couldn't they get young non-unionized help for that? Maybe the cutlers will be doing the Beckers?

maybe they'll keep them to touch up knives that were too shoddy even by current standards... keep a couple bench grinders out and stuff

i hope ethan pulls rank and gets another vendor to make his stuff. also bring back some of the older models (for a time?) as a celebration :> you know, 20th anniversary of the machax, that kind of thing.

bladite

 

[Critter]

Wonder if Ethan Becker is paying attention here.

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.

 

[knifeworker]

It is no secret that Ethan is in the process of extricating himself from Camillus who are in default of their agreement.

To read: Camillus takes the money from sales and does not pay the royalties due.

i hope ethan pulls rank and gets another vendor to make his stuff.

Count on it!

It's still quite sad. I doubt, and I hope I'm very wrong, that Camillus will comeback to anything like it was before.

Camillus will NEVER be what it was before!

Then again, if someone in there is paying attention...

Trust me....NOBODY is paying attention.

 

[Mountainwind]

It is public record that a temporary restraining order has been issued on Camillus in this regard as part of the process.

Does this mean they can't make Becker knives anymore? If so, are the Beckers on the market, all there is, and no more will be shipped to dealers?

 

[HunterH]

The only ones that are paying attention are the people whose lives that were affected. I feel blessed that I found a job that was so much better in every way ( including financially ). I still want to know what is happening to my friends that live this drama every day. The company told the union that they would pick who they wanted and call them Thursday/ Friday and from what I have heard there were no phone calls. Typical of Camillus Cutlery. The heritage of this company doesn't deserve the lack of leadership that has been displayed for many years. The dedicated workers spent a majority of their lifetime producing quality knives but continue to be cast aside with no empathy. Does anyone think that the founder would be pleased with this whole situation? He would probably scream, ENOUGH OF THIS!!!!!!
Phil let out some steam it will do you a world of good!! I'm glad that I found this bladeforum, it made the transition better. Speaking out and finding out what others were thinking helped.
Knifeworker, it will always be hard to let go of the past but it does get better!!! Trust me!! The hardest part is seeing our friends still struggling.

 

[Phil Gibbs]

Does this mean they can't make Becker knives anymore? If so, are the Beckers on the market, all there is, and no more will be shipped to dealers?

I would say that is a fair assessment Mountainwind.

 

[knifeintheheart]

But now what??
I fear the majority of the remaining knife workers will be laid off. I so hope I am wrong. Many of them are 3rd generation knife makers, skills that should not be cast away.

Yes they will. The sad thing is that there is no repercussion to this massive destructive act by an incompetent management and an arrogant union. The so called owners will go on spending their money, while the union will go on and kill another company. But Camillus had a future. Potential buyers were working on developing transaction deals that would have saved the manufacturing facility. One specifically put strategy in place to make Camillus a net exporter of knives, capitalizing on the fact that the whole world is overrun by MADE IN CHINA goods, and there is a trendous appetite for MADE IN USA goods.

The owners took no action, and the union stood in the way. The sad part is that Camillus was for all practical purposes bankrupt, and the operation would have continued under a similar, but different name still manufacturing and still in Camillus. The strike was a screw up of major proportion. Whether the contract was approved or rejected was immaterial, since the contract did not apply to the new company. So, they went on strike for nothing. Poor workers.

And no one else got paid. The union should have a class action suit started against them for false claims of "unfair labor practices", which they had to withdraw since there was no cause. The union can blame the management all they want, and rightly so. However, the management wanted out, and the union prevented that by calling a strike that became a killing blow and killed any deals on the table. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Unfortunately, this is an injustice that will just be forgotten, except by those who lost their jobs and income.

RIP Camillus......the American Dream was killed by the American way

 

[observerq]

Knifeintheheart,

So well put. The best part is the stupid, stupid, and more stupid. Those fine folks would still be working if it hadn't been for the spite of others for whatever the reason.

Nothing in life is easy, but the worst thing among men is DISHONESTY. We are all the pawns in life, if we realize this early on, we can try to outwit them the best we can. But some are more craftier than others which leads me to believe that we are no better off then the day we are born.

If any of the workers come back, life will be different not only for them, but for the people who still are there.

Has anyone given these people any thought as to how they feel about this entire mess!!! Consider the stress they too have had to endure.

 

[geegee]

Makes me wonder if any potential acquirers might now come forward to buy Camillus, now that the strike is over? If the most experienced people are brought back, some company may be inclined to buy what remains.

 

[338375]

Any time this happens it is sad for the workers and there families. In the end, in most cases, it does'nt effect the upper management as bad. As usually they will receive their substantial severance packages and bonuses anyway before things go totally bad. Most of these people know enough in advance whats going to take place. I must say though that I don't know if this is the case with Camillus upper management. A few years ago I had the pleasure to meet one of the reps at the big knife show in Eugene. I feel really stupid but I can't remember his name. He was a great guy to talk to and was very proud of the products that they were making and also the people that worked there. I wish all the employees that this has effected the best in the future...

 

[cleancutguy]

This is so sad to probably be losing another American company to overseas competition. I have had several knives from Camillus in the past and just purchased another and I am glad I have another piece of American made cutlery which I will keep as one of my EDC's. Lets wait and see where this goes but it not a pretty picture for Camillus.

 

[CRKS]

I have been reading everyone’s thoughts, some put the blame on the company some put the blame on the union workers. I find it interesting that nobody has put the blame on themselves or other people in our country. What am I talking about? Let me say first; I have met allot of great people while dealing through knives. I carry a wide price range and quality in my knife inventory. Here is what I see; The same guy that complains about a $15.00 or $20.00 knife being made in China will pick up a knife in another case and
complain that a knife made in the USA costs $40.00 or $50.00. Then he looses his breath when he picks up a CUDA or a BK77 and looks at the price. I feel that all hard working American people deserve to make a good living. I also think that a great company (like Camillus) deserves to make a profit and prosper. But to do this they need to charge a premium price for there product. How can they do that when other companies like Frost, Rough Rider, ect.... import these knives made in China. In order to get their piece of that
market Camillus, Buck, Boker, United ect... has to import and carry a China made knife line. This is called the free market folks.

When I first started selling at trade shows 90% of what I took to the shows were knives made in the US. So many people wanted a $10.00 or $15.00 knife, I had to start carrying more of the “China Knives”. Now I carry about 50/50 China/US knives.

True knife collector are a cut above, but they make up a small group of knife buyers. Most people in the US are price shoppers and quality follows a distant second. The problem (if it truly is a problem) is that the knives made in China, and Taiwan are of higher quality than they were years ago. American technology is being implemented in the other countries. Cheep labor with higher quality control is producing a good knife at a low price. Do I sell these knives? Yes. Do I buy them, do you buy them? Yes. Is it going to stop? No. Instead of pointing a fingers at Camillus and its workers why dont you buy
all of your loved ones a good American made knife for Christmas, hey while your at it buy yourself one or two. Last but not least look around your house. How many things do you own that was made in another country, how many of those products were made in the US 10 years ago?