Opinion ID: 786209
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Closing of the Barberton Plant

Text: 9 After learning of RBX's intentions, Local 77L met with representatives of the government of the City of Barberton in early August to explore ways of forestalling the plant's closure. This meeting was not fruitful because no one from RBX attended the meeting. Quickly recognizing that the plant closure was a fait accompli, the parties entered into effects negotiations.
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11 On August 14, 2001, Jones, acting as the USWA representative, and several Local 77L officers met with RBX's attorneys, led by William Twomey (Twomey) in what became a contentious meeting. Twomey commenced the meeting by claiming that no severance payments would be available because the SUB fund position was below 4% on account of health care benefits paid to laid-off employees in recent years. Several Barberton employees expressed anger regarding the apparent lack of severance pay, accusing RBX of having negotiated the SUB Plan in bad faith. J.A. at 916 (Minutes, 08/14/01). The union representatives sought to persuade RBX not to close the plant, suggesting that the City of Barberton might be able to provide assistance, but Twomey made it clear that RBX had no choice but to close the plant. 12 Failing to reach any solution on August 14, the parties reconvened the following day. RBX provided Local 77L with an official Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice, as is required by federal statute. See 29 U.S.C. § 2102(a). The WARN letter, dated August 14, 2001, clarified that all employees in the collective bargaining unit at Midwest will be permanently laid off sometime during the period between October 15th, 2001 and 14 days thereafter. J.A. at 50 (WARN Letter). The union representatives complained to no avail that the notice was late. The parties then turned their attention to the issue of severance pay. RBX offered one of two alternatives to the Barberton employees: 1) each employee would receive a lump-sum payment equal to one week of severance pay for each year of service, plus a $1,000 cash bonus, but no medical insurance beyond the first ninety days; or 2) each employee would receive one week of severance pay for every year of service paid on a weekly basis, plus company-paid health insurance for the same period of time. The Local 77L representatives took the offer back to the union membership, which rejected the proposal on August 19. 13
14 The parties reconvened on October 8, 2001. Twomey proposed a new offer: each employee would receive one week's severance pay for each year of service, plus RBX would pay its share of each employee's health premium, which would be applied to the employee's COBRA premium. The membership rejected this proposal on October 12, demanding increased severance pay and longer lasting medical benefits. 15
16 A third meeting was held on November 9, 2001. RBX offered a sharply scaled-back proposal. RBX would pay a lump-sum severance payment of one day's pay for each year of service, plus RBX would pay for health benefits through November 30, 2002 (by applying the premium RBX would have paid towards an employee's COBRA payments). However, the employees would have to pay a $250 monthly co-payment from June 1 to November 30. The membership eventually turned down this last proposal on December 30, 2001. 17
18 As predicted in the WARN letter, RBX closed the Barberton facility and fired nearly all of its employees on October 15, 2001. Pursuant to Article IX of the USWA Constitution, the USWA placed Local 77L in Administratorship on November 29, 2001, suspending the Local 77L officers because the plant had closed and naming Rose Jones as the Administrator of Local 77L. Owing to the large number of unresolved disputes between the employees and RBX, the USWA filed multiple grievances on behalf of the Barberton employees. Several of these grievances were filed by Jones in response to a letter sent by RBX, which informed the Barberton employees that their health insurance ended on January 13, 2002, ninety days after the closing of the plant. Some Local 77L members objected to the manner in which Jones handled the filing of grievances and the effects negotiations. In January, a Local 77L member, Douglas Sauerbrei, requested that Jones be removed as administrator. However, during a February 13, 2002, hearing held by the USWA to determine if the Administratorship was properly established, there was allegedly no objection to the establishment of the Administratorship or to Jones's abilities in that role.