Neither side budged Tuesday as the heads of Mercury Marine and its employees union met about the company’s proposed contract changes. The offer remains on the table, but Mercury’s contract proposal to union employees that would keep manufacturing jobs in Fond du Lac is growing cold.
Mercury President Mark Schwabero met with Machinists Local 1947 leaders Mark Zillges and Dan Longsin for more than an hour and a half Tuesday. Schwabero says while they had a good conversation and an open dialogue there were no modifications made to what he calls Mercury’s “last, best and final offer.”
AUDIO: Mark Schwabero (:17 MP3)
Union members overwhelmingly rejected Mercury’s proposal last Sunday, but Schwabero says it will remain on the table through midnight Saturday. He says if the union was to take another vote and the contract was approved it would change the company’s decision to consolidate manufacturing jobs to their Stillwater, Oklahoma facility.
Schwabero says as long as the company remains cost competitive keeping manufacturing jobs and the headquarters in Fond du Lac would cause the least disruption. There’s no word yet from the union on whether they will hold another vote.
Submitted by Bob Nelson, KFIZ
