Vernon-based Amerbelle Textiles LLC and the Unite Here union have reached an agreement involving concessions that will cost union members the equivalent of $200 per month, but in return employees received assurances that they will have a place to work.
The plant will stay open for the immediate future.
“It could be a real special thing here,” union Local 471T President Christopher Neville said. As hard as the concessions will be on the 47 union employees left at Amerbelle, the workers decided it was worth the effort, Neville said. He also credited Amerbelle owner Douglas Rimsky’s positive approach to negotiations for smoothing the way to an accord.
“He’s invested a lot of his money in this place, and he’s a good guy,” Neville said of Rimsky, a textile businessman from New York who took over the company in 2004 as it was teetering on the brink of closing.
But with the economy spiraling downward, Neville said that Rimsky initially came to the union earlier this year seeking ways to cut $300,000 in expenses.
“It took a little coaxing,” he said, but the union negotiated the cost-saving package down to $200,000, and eventually got the package down to $150,000 in insurance, 401k contributions, and other concessions.
In return, Rimsky agreed in writing to keep the factory operating, Neville said.
A union official would not speculate on how long.
The current union runs through February 2010, when the two sides will meet to negotiate a new labor pact.
“We are here, we’ve got our feet dug in, and we’re willing to work,” he said of the union’s hourly workers.
Amerbelle, founded in 1936, dyes, finishes, and coats textiles from other manufacturers.
In 2008, Amerbelle received a $198,000 federal grant that will help with roof and window repairs on the antique East Main Street plant’s buildings, some of which date back to predecessor companies that were operating before the Civil War.
