United Auto Workers Local 807 lends helping hand to supportive restaurant in Burlington
More than a dozen members of United Auto Workers Local 807 gathered Thursday outside Mazzio's Italian Eatery with rakes, shovels and flowers in tow to reciprocate the support the Burlington restaurant has given striking union members.
The landscaping effort was coordinated, funded and carried out by the UAW Women's Committee with some help from Zaiser's, which offered the flowers and bushes at a discounted price, committee chairwoman Tracy Chew explained.
"He's been supporting us with pizzas on the line," Chew said of Mazzio's owner Dann Quam, who treated the union members to pizza after they had finished the morning's work.
The workers who lent a helping hand Thursday are among about 430 UAW members who have been on strike against Case New Holland Industrial since May 2, when workers in Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington walked out of their respective plants in response to failed contract negotiations.
UAW Local 807 and Case representatives have returned to the negotiating table in Racine several times since the strike began, including this week. As of Thursday, a deal had not been struck, nor had a proposal from Case been put to union vote.
UAW Local 807 President Nick Guernsey previously told The Hawk Eye that past proposals put forward by CNHI have been lacking in affordable health insurance options and pay increases. Other sticking points include vacation time and flexibility, contract language related to job security that would prevent plant closure, and contract length.
Previously: 'A wasted trip': United Auto Workers and Case New Holland walk away after one day of negotiations
"We're all ready to go back to work," said Kim Alber, a union steward and trustee who has worked at Case for nearly nine years. "We really are."
The fact that union representatives had not returned from contract talks had some union members feeling hopeful, given that the last round of negotiations in July lasted only one day.
Since that time, the union has seen national-level support from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who spoke at a town hall event at Crapo Park in July, followed by a visit from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
More: UAW members on strike in Burlington visited by US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
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Striking workers have been getting by on weekly strike payments, which the UAW International Executive Board increased from $275 to $400 in June in response to inflation, and income from other jobs.
Chew and her son-in-law, Dalton Witte, have been working at Mazzio's as delivery drivers.
Quam said he is happy to support the union workers, both at an individual and larger level.
"I'd just like for them to get settled and get their jobs back so they can start spending money in this community again," Quam said, explaining that he believes the money being earned by Case's replacement workers is not being spent in the Burlington area, but rather going back to their cities of residence. "I'm a retail guy. The more people who make money in this community is better for everybody."
He was also grateful for work done by the union outside his restaurant.
"We had a bunch of bushes die over the winter, so I went out and pulled those out myself. But I haven't had a chance to go back out and replant anything, and that's what they did," he said. "They went out and replanted all these plants and flowers."
Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Union workers on strike help Burlington restaurant
