Tama might face strike (Textile workers at Tama Manufacturing plan to go on strike Monday )

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-strike.5897075jun14,0,6265101.story?coll=all-businesslocal-hed

June 14, 2007
Tama might face strike
140 workers want better pay, health care at Hanover Township clothing manufacturer.
By Jeanne Bonner Of The Morning Call
Textile workers at Tama Manufacturing plan to go on strike Monday if they are unable to reach an agreement with the company's management by Friday.

Tama's union workers voted 134-2 to authorize a strike at a meeting Wednesday afternoon. The Unite Here union, which represents 140 workers at Tama, and the company have been unable to reach an agreement over wages and health care contributions, said union organizer Gail Meyer. The workers' three-year contract expired at the end of May.

The union has been negotiating since March with Tama, of Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Meyer said. Tama President Mark Fogelman did not return phone messages Wednesday.

Last week, about 500 Unite Here union members settled a strike that lasted less than a week against three Northampton County garment companies. That ended what labor officials said was the Lehigh Valley garment industry's largest strike in some 50 years.

Tama makes women's slacks and skirts, including items sold under the Alfred Dunner label. The privately held, family-owned company has been in business since the 1940s. This year, it received a $21.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to make uniforms, including men's and women's coats and trousers, for the Air Force.

In 2005, it received another Defense Department contract to make training jackets for the Air Force.


FULL story at link.