Workers at the VF Majestic plant in Palmer Township oppose a proposed hike in their health care costs. They resume negotiations with the company's management Monday.
View full sizeMajestic Athletic machine operator Stephanie Meixsell loads a cotton T-shirt onto a screen-printing machine at the company's plant in Palmer Township. Workers there oppose higher health care premiums. Express-Times File Photo | BRUCE WINTER The local makers of Major League Baseball uniforms will have the backing of big-name ball players when they return to the negotiating table Monday to fight rising health care costs.
Five hundred workers at the VF Majestic plant in Palmer Township oppose the company’s plans to double their health care premiums for the same quality of insurance, said David Melman, manager of the Pennsylvania Joint Board, Workers United Service Employees International Union.
The Major League Baseball Players Association sent a letter to the factory workers last month. The association urged them to keep bargaining until they reach a contract that keeps the health insurance affordable. Melman said a single employee’s healthcare premium under the previous contract was about $60 a month, and a full family’s premium was about $275. Out-off-pocket costs could drive up the price of health care more, he said.
“It’s not like a Cadillac plan,” Melman said. “Our members can’t afford to make the coverage more expensive.”
The apparel-makers’ previous contract expired at the end of May, and the union has been negotiating with the company’s executives to settle on a new, three-year contract, Melman said. They haven’t ruled out the possibility of a strike, but right now, they’re focused on trying to reach an agreement, he said. Talks will resume on Monday.
Both parties have been negotiating in good faith, and VF management hopes to reach a resolution as quickly, said Scott Shoener, vice president of human resources for VF Imagewear. Health insurance has been a sticking point, but the company is treating the Majestic associates the same as the rest of its employees, he said. Shoener declined to get into specifics of the negotiations.
“We’re asking them to take the same coverage and same plans as all of our other associates at VF have,” Shoener said.
He said the company is prepared to handle a strike but isn’t anticipating one. VF doesn’t anticipate any disruption in production, Shoener said.
Year-round, the workers repair uniforms, make new uniforms for players called up from minor league teams and sew an additional set of uniforms for players in the All-Star Game, Melman said. They also make replica jerseys. This year's All-Star game is July 16 at Citi Field.
The baseball players association wrote that the players are pleased the uniforms are made in the U.S. by members of a labor union that negotiates employment conditions with management as equal parties under the law. The letter continued:
“Even though you are employed by VF, the members of the MLBPA consider you to be a part of our extended baseball family, and we know that what you do every day during the season contributes mightily to the fans’ experience, and therefore, to the success of Major League Baseball.”