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August 30, 2009
It was a year ago this date that will live in the minds
and hearts of many who came up short, a time when many had to decide
if they would retire, or in many cases, just take a buyout and never
return from layoff, taking a chance to try and find something else.
It was a time when Brother and Sister turned against each other only
to the delight of the management team with whom we were in
negations. We wanted to negotiate a plan in which both sides would
share in the pain, not just the working person on the floor. The
Union was put in a position to watch the changes in members’
attitudes from being united one day, to calling us liars the next,
mostly following the aspirations of three members who, for whatever
reason, decided to undermine us in a public forum.
What happened next is history. There were members still laid off
from some of our plants with 30 plus years of seniority, who, when,
or if they came back, had to work for much less than the three
so-called heroes and the other people who were not laid off at the
time. After about six months the company folks received a variable
compensation check or bonus check (whatever they called it), but
regardless of what it was called, it was not fair to the recalled
folks or even to the temporary help. It was just not right.
No, the top management folks at Mercury Marine did not
want to share in the pain to keep Mercury in Fond du Lac; they only
wanted to line their own pockets at your expense. They cannot pass
their own red face test of embarrassment.They
only have the shameless face of greed.
As some time has gone by, there have been some machines
arriving here in Fond du Lac. The people who wanted to get called
back are back now, as well as a number of new people being hired for
what we believe is a poverty level wage. Yes times are tough, and
yes, people just plain need a job, so Mercury just keeps taking
advantage of the hard times that have fallen on the working people.
Some folks will no longer serve as Union
Representatives. At least they will never put themselves in that
position again to have to deal with a selfish management team who,
in our opinion, has no decency or compassion for the working person.
Their new task master is a law firm that makes their money by being
paid by a company like Brunswick to find any way they can to cause
enough fear to get Union members to give back years of fair contract
language and wages.
You have probably noticed even many good management
people have left Mercury to find a different job. If they have youth
on their side and something going for them, they are gone. Please
wish them all good luck and hope they find a company with a future,
a conscience and a place of which they can once again be proud. Most
people don’t want to be associated with a Bully and that is what our
top management at Mother Mercury has become.
All we know from those we have talked to is that Mercury
was once a place to feel blessed and proud to work for, but now it’s
different. We believe only the top management people are happy and
of course, their new law firm. In the past we had management that
believed their employees were their number one resource. Now it
seems the current management believes we should sacrifice our wages
and benefits so they can receive their variable compensation checks
or their stock options, because now the company is doing so much
better at our expense.
Now the company management team, as they call
themselves, can reward themselves by taking advantage of others,
while they lick their chops waiting for another variable
compensation check at your expense. Like any Bully, they want your
lunch money; that’s what Bullies do. We only hope the day comes when
a company like Mercury is once again a place to be proud to work
for, a place where we would once again wear a Mercury shirt or cap
with pride.
When a management person at Mercury gets fired they get
some compensation, all you get is a red face. If you get sick the
company now stalls on paying accident and sickness benefits at a
time when they should be supportive and help people with their
paperwork so they can still pay their bills and put food on the
table. God forbid the greedy upper management or their law firm ever
find themselves in a hardship situation. We can only think of the
day when we can retire or the day we can have a fair wage and a fair
contract and never have to look at the cruel and greedy people in
charge of Mercury.
Well this is just our opinion and we know there are other
ones out there, but thanks for taking the time to read ours. Yes we
are bitter, especially for the people who came back to work from
layoff to a lesser wage and the new people who had to take a job at
a wage which is not enough to support a family and pay their bills.
We cannot believe the company can feel good about themselves
treating their workers this way, but we guess they do, or they would
return to the bargaining table and make things right.
Thanks again
Bill Waldschmidt and Dan Longsine
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Deja Vu
Last summer, Mercury Marine (Division of Brunswick
Corporation) threatened to move all boat motor production out of the
Fond du Lac area to their other location in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
This caused massive heartburn among many local businesses,
individuals, and local government leaders. The thought was that
there would be a trickle down effect and many more thousands of jobs
would be lost.
The employees at Mercury Marine at the time, threatened
with the loss of their jobs gave in to Brunswick’s demands and
grudgingly approved a new contract with massive concessions. Not
only did the employees of Mercury Marine give into their threats but
the City and County of Fond du Lac and the State of Wisconsin gave
into this corporation’s demands by giving it millions of dollars,
supposedly to keep jobs here. This threatened move created division
among many individuals in our area that continues to this day and
will continue for many years to come.
Then a little over a month later, in a report by the
Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, it was reported that Brunswick
Corporation did not pay any corporate taxes in Wisconsin. In
response to the report a spokesman for Brunswick said that
“Brunswick is in full compliance with Wisconsin Tax Regulations”.
But did you notice he didn’t deny that Brunswick paid no Wisconsin
corporate taxes?
About six months after the threats to move, despite
having lost $568.2 million in 2009, Brunswick announced that it was
giving its salaried employees a “bonus” on their salary for the year
2009. They took away salary and benefits from the people that
actually build the engines and rewarded themselves with it.
There are probably not many people in the area that were
here at the time or remember that this is not the first time that
Mercury Marine / Brunswick Corporation has threatened the local
economy if local officials did not give into their demands.
In 1964 Mercury Marine, (then known as Kiekhaefer
Corporation), threatened to build their main plant, (Plant 15) in
some other location if the then leaders of the Fond du Lac City
Council refused to pass a resolution promising not to annex their
proposed plant site to the city. In a full page ad in the then Fond
du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Kiekhaefer Corporation said in no
uncertain terms that they would not build here if the city did not
give into their demands.
Two days later in another full page ad in the
“Commonwealth Reporter”, a number of local businesses and concerned
citizens urged all local citizens to call their councilmen and
encourage them to do all they could do to make sure the plant was
built here. It sure sounds a lot like what happened here last
summer.
It’s time we, the people use our vote to rid ourselves
of all these elected officials (city, county, and state) that
continually bow down to this corporate greed. We need to elect
people that will hold these corporations accountable, change the tax
laws to make it
more profitable to keep jobs here rather then ship them elsewhere
and make them pay their fair share in taxes.
All of us pay our taxes and play by the rules but for
some reason corporations don’t have to. All these corporate managers
are doing is lining their own pockets with our tax money. Brunswick
Corporation is a classic example; they continually lose millions
through their questionable management, give their managers huge pay
raises or bonuses then expect the tax payers to bail them out.
Remember this when you vote in this Fall’s elections.
Please Do Vote!
Joe Fortunato / Newsletter Editor |
