Report Says Maytag Workers Lose Jobs After Strike Jul 7, 2004

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Union employees at the Maytag plant in Netwon, IA, U.S. expected to continue working on Tuesday after a 3-week strike ended. Instead, as reported by an Iowa TV journalist, about 450 workers were informed that they were unemployed.

On July 2, about 1,500 members of United Auto Workers Local 997 ratified a new 4-year contract with Maytag, ending a strike that started June 10 when contract negotiations broke down with the appliance maker. Workers were told to report to work Tuesday during their normal shifts, but when they arrived, managers reportedly pulled them aside and said they had to leave.

"They told us that we were classified as unreinstated strikers...pretty much that they don't have any work for us and that they don't want us back in the door," former Maytag employee Nichole Danks said.

A Maytag spokeswoman said she couldn't comment on the situation, and the president of the local union did not return phone calls. Union workers said they hope the UAW will file a formal grievance. (TheIowaChannel.com)

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