Peerless Quality – Illinois Members Take Pride in Producing Gas and Electric Stoves

Mike Keck has worked at the Peerless-Premier Appliance Co. in Belleville, Ill., for 46 years. For all but four of those years, he has also served as the president of Local 182B.

Today, Keck has an eye on retirement in 2026. He and local Vice President Chester Coleman are among the 50 USW members at the site who produce gas and electric ranges for Peerless-Premier.

“I catch myself forgetting that I’ve done it for so long,” said Keck, who works in the factory’s maintenance department. “Time just goes by.”

Family Atmosphere

The small-town atmosphere at the family-owned workplace, about 15 miles southeast of St. Louis, allows the time to pass smoothly, members say. The close-knit work force is filled with members who have put in decades of service.

Peerless recently established a tradition of gifting jackets to workers who had spent 40 years on the job. Last year, the company handed out eight of them.

“That means it’s a good place to work,” said Anthony Southers, a Local 182B member who has been in the parts department of the factory for three years, following in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather.

Southers said he grew up hoping to someday land a job at Peerless, knowing that it was a career that would provide good USW-negotiated wages and benefits, and the kind of family atmosphere that makes workers want to stay for a lifetime.

“It’s a blessing,” said Coleman of the close-knit work force, which includes USW members as well as machinists and boilermakers, all of whom work closely with each other.

“It’s more of a big family,” said Keck, who started at the factory just after graduating from high school.

The Stove ‘Capital’

The workers at Peerless are carrying on a manufacturing tradition that dates to the late 19^th century, when Belleville became known as the “Stove Capital of the World,” and the local industry was booming.

Founded in 1912, Premier Stove Co. originally produced wood and coal stoves before gas and electric options grew in popularity. Peerless Enamel Products Co. launched in 1928 and developed a similar product line.

In 1975, Peerless acquired Premier, and by 1982, the two companies consolidated.

Today, company President Alex Volansky oversees day-to-day operations, which fall into three main functions: Fabrication, coating and assembly.

USW Leads the Way

USW members are an integral part of all three phases of the stove-making process, beginning with fabrication, where raw steel – much of it supplied by Cleveland-Cliffs – is formed into the pieces that make up the body of each stove.

Workers operate presses and weld pieces together to the correct shapes and sizes of each unit.

From there, the pieces are coated with paint and enamel before they are assembled – along with components such as control panels, knobs and insulation – which can vary depending on whether the stove is powered by electricity or gas.

Workers produce ranges in four standard sizes and with multiple finishes – most of them black, white or stainless steel.

From top to bottom, the company prides itself on its commitment to using American-made materials, Volansky said.

“We make every effort to purchase as much U.S.-made product as we can,” he said.

Steelworkers’ Pride

The commitment to made-in-the-USA materials is a source of pride for USW members at the factory, who know that, in addition to fighting for strong wages and benefits for themselves and their families, they are supporting other workers across the country.

“I wish more people would do it,” Keck said of the company’s push for domestic content.

The 80 to 100 ranges that workers at Peerless-Premier produce each day are boxed up and shipped to major appliance retailers throughout North America and Europe.

Before the products leave the sprawling two-block-long factory, though, they undergo rigorous inspections, during which workers meticulously test each piece for defects and imperfections.

Members like Glenn Skidmore make sure no ranges have gas leaks. Others test electrical components for any signs of malfunction and inspect the bodies of the stoves for scratches and dents.

While they maintain strict quality control standards, members of 182B also look out for each other, making sure that the safety and health of the work force is their top priority.

“We all have families to go home to,” said Coleman. “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

Thirteen-year member LaMonte Johnson said that Peerless management and its union workers demonstrate their shared commitment to a safer and healthier workplace through the plant’s joint safety and health committee.

The group holds regular meetings and conducts monthly walk-throughs of the entire plant to identify and eliminate hazards, Johnson said.

Community Focus

The workers’ focus on the well-being of others doesn’t stop at the factory door. Local 182B members are active in community organizations, and regularly meet with other USW members in the region to discuss their issues and compare notes.

“You’ve got to be there for your community,” Coleman said. “It keeps us all united.”

District 7 Director Michael Millsap, whose region includes Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, often oversees those USW get-togethers.

“It’s important that members are always building solidarity, both within their workplaces and with other unions across their community,” Millsap said. “The members of Local 182B are a great example of that commitment to keeping the union strong.”

As Keck prepares to step down from his dual jobs in the coming months, he’s confident that Coleman and other members in the factory will carry on his legacy of strong union leadership.

Coleman said Keck has done everything he can to build up the union’s next generation, noting that strong leadership is, at its core, about honest and direct communication.

“It all starts with friendship and respect,” Coleman said of his mentor. “I know that he’s got my back.”