Contact: Tony Montana – 412-562-2592 or tmontana@usw.org
The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that workers at Bobcat's Bismarck, N.D., manufacturing facility voted in favor of union representation in a secret ballot election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
USW District 11 Director Emil Ramirez said the 700 Bobcat employees in Bismarck recognize that a strong union provides everyone with a voice on the job and empowers individual employees, who became closer as a group while organizing, to speak up.
"As employers continue to urge more and faster production, it is absolutely essential for workers to have a say on issues that could impact their occupational health and safety," Ramirez said. "Fair pay and benefits will help retain loyal, experienced workers, and ensuring adequate staffing numbers will keep the plant running as safely and efficiently as possible."
"Bobcat workers deserve a fair union contract that provides fair pay and promotes a healthy work-life balance with limits on mandatory overtime and provisions for paid-time-off," said Bobcat employee Jacob Klein. "We are proud to join the United Steelworkers and look forward to the next step of the process - working together to negotiate a fair first collective bargaining agreement."
The USW will next reach out to Bobcat management to schedule dates for negotiations.
The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in manufacturing, metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number in public sector, service, tech and academic occupations.