International Brotherhood of DuPont Workers

Jim Flickinger - President     

Tony Davis - Vice President

Donny Irvin - Secretary/Treasurer 

Kenneth Henley - General Counsel 

"Workers Representing DuPont, Bemis and INVISTA Workers"

UPDATE FROM PHILADELPHIA, PA

IBDW LOCAL 1186

Unfortunately, the news from Philadelphia is not good.  After a CTP in February 2009 that resulted in drastic cuts (all volunteers), we thought we were safe from any further cuts.  Then in May of 2009 the Union was informed that the Philadelphia Marshall Laboratory would cease all operations as of June 30, 2009 and be closed on July 31, 2009. 

It was a real kick in the gut when we were given the news, even though there had been rumors swirling for many years that the site would be closing.  Of course, as usual with DuPont, management provided no plausible reason for the decision to shut the site down.  Actually, I firmly believe that local management wasn't even consulted on the decision.

We immediately requested “Effects Bargaining” and tried to get the best we could for our members but, as with all the other plants DuPont has closed over the years, management turned a deaf ear to our requests.  We were especially disappointed that management would not agree to allow employees who had over 27 years service but who had not yet turned 58 to retire with a full pension.

Approximately 40 of our members were hired at other DuPont locations with all but two going to the Experimental Station in Delaware.  There was also a number of our members who applied for a position with Dupont but who were not offered anything.  Some weren’t even interviewed.

We did agree to have a “skeleton crew” of 12 bargaining unit employees remain on site for specific periods of time to assist with the shutdown.  All but 3 of those employees were gone by November 30, 2009.  The remaining 4 were supposed to remain until July 31, 2010 but the Company pulled the plug on June 30, 2010 despite the Union’s objection.

There are issues that remain.  In fact, there are two ongoing grievances with one scheduled for arbitration this coming December.  And there may well be additional grievances filed after June 30, 2010.  These grievances deal with the issue of which employees were held over and with supervisors doing bargaining unit work. 

While I will remain as president of Philadelphia Local 1186 until all open issues are resolved, I can no longer remain as Secretary-Treasurer of the IBDW.  Effective July 1, 2010, I  passed the proverbial torch to Donny Irvin from Richmond Local 992.

It has been an honor to serve my Local for the past 19 years and to serve the IBDW members for the last 9 years.  If I could do it all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat.

In Solidarity,

Dave Gibson

Send mail to ibdw.jim@comcast.net with questions or comments about this web site.