IBEW Local 11 (Los Angeles CA) Member, Marvin Kropke, to be honored June 24th

From:                   Julie Monroe 

SAVE THE DATE!

UCLA Labor Center banquet

Friday, June 24, 2005
6:00 p.m. reception
7:00 p.m. dinner
The Center at Cathedral Plaza
555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles

SOS: Support our Struggle
to survive!

honoring:

Karen Bass,
California State Assembly

Gloria Romero,
California State Senate

Eliseo Medina, Service
Employees International Union

Marvin Kropke
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11

Link to flyer: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/labor/events/sos.pdf


Name _______________________________________ Organization __________________________________________

Address ________________________________________ City _____________________ State _____ Zip ___________

Phone _____________________ Fax ______________________ Email _______________________________________

No. of Tickets ______ at $100 each ($75 of each ticket is tax-deductible) (No. of vegetarian dinners ______)
No. of Tables ______ at $1000 each ($750 of each table is tax-deductible) (No. of vegetarian dinners ______)
(Submit table list of attendees to laborcenter@iir.ucla.edu or mail in with form)

Tribute Journal (tax-deductible) ___ full page (8½ x 11) $1000 ___ half page (8½ x 5½) $500
___ quarter page (4¼ x 5½) $250 ___ eighth page (4¼ x 2¼) $125 ___ friends listing (name and/or org) $50
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For image-only files, prefer .tif or .jpg.)

Donation (tax-deductible) $ ______________

Total enclosed $ ___________________ (appeal code LS022)


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Credit Card #________________________ Exp. date___________

Authorized Signature_____________________________________ (fund # 613630)

Return form to: UCLA Labor Center Banquet, PO Box 951478, Los Angeles CA 90095-1478.

For more information, contact Julie Monroe or Erica Grove at laborcenter@iir.ucla.edu or 310/794-5982.


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Canadian IBEW Leaders Protest "Company Union" That Wants to Import Asian Workers, Ignore Skilled Canadians

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[NOTE: CLAC is an employer-created "union" that prides itself on low wages and being friendly to employers. CLAC stands for the "Christian Labour Association of Canada ," set up by companies to keep real unions from representing "their" workers. These are jobs that could go to unemployed Canadian and US electrical workers. MW]

CLAC defends itself against charges of
lower wages, hiring foreign workers

Fort McMurray [note: the real labor unions] unions are up in arms over the foreign worker issue, and they’re planning to voice their concerns in a protest Thursday.

By MICHAEL URBANSKI, Today staff, Wednesday April 27, 2005

Fort McMurray Today — Fort McMurray unions are up in arms over the foreign worker issue, and they’re planning to voice their concerns in a protest Thursday.
But CLAC (Christian Labour Association of Canada) Alberta director Dick Heinen told Today this morning the unions are out of touch with reality.
“It’s just wrong to suggest there is a lot of people out there looking for work,” said Heinen, offering to provide work to any tradesperson who comes to CLAC.
“I was at the airport Sunday and I talked to a scaffolder from Nova Scotia, who indicated he’s been called from a Nova Scotia local to Fort McMurray because there wasn’t enough people here.
“But if today the other unions already have to dip into Nova Scotia locals to crew up (provide workers for) the jobs, what’s going to happen two years from now?”
Heinen said a number of studies conducted by federal government and various other organizations, predicted a critical deficit in trades in the near future, adding the “worker shortage isn’t just a CLAC issue.”
His comments come after Dale Crow, assistant business manager with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and one of the organizers of the anti-foreign workers rally Thursday, accused CLAC of being an employer-friendly union, offering cheaper labour rates to oilsands companies and thus lowering the standards for all unions.
“That’s not true,” retorted Heinen. “CLAC is a value-based union that comes at labour relations from a different perspective. We should be able to balance with a really strong worker advocacy, with the long-term interest of the job.”
Oilsands companies prefer to work with CLAC, according to Heinen, because CLAC is a wall-to-wall union -- single union for a particular workplace.
This means that different trades like electricians and carpenters work under the CLAC banner. In traditional unions, they’re separately represented.
“This allows for much greater efficiencies because we don’t have the same jurisdictional issues that you find with the craft unions,” he said.
CLAC’s partnership approach to labour relations is another reason employers chose the union over others -- “we’re easier to work with,” said Heinen.
Asked why people from other unions aren’t inclined to join CLAC, Heinen said, “we had numerous cases in which the unions have attempted to fine their members for working elsewhere ... many unions simply forbid their members from working for CLAC.”
“There are instances of the unions fining their members $5,000 for working on a CLAC site,” said Heinen. “They’re keeping their members by intimidation.”
Heinen added the unions’ dislike for CLAC has to do with the fact that “for a number of years the building trades have had a monopoly on the large construction work in Fort McMurray. They’re seeing the end of the monopoly, and that is what’s motivating this debate.”
He also rejected the accusations that CLAC pays lower wages.
“CLAC does not have a lower wage package than the other unions. We have a bit of a different structure. But at the end of the day, what the person takes home is the almost the same as other unions,” he said.
Heinen added that the whole foreign worker debate is misleading, because CLAC is looking for highly-trained journeymen trades people who will train Canadians for the job.
“Currently, there are a lot more people wanting to get into the apprenticeship program than we can handle. But there is a shortage of journeymen. Now, for every journeyman that comes in (from abroad) we can bring on another Canadian apprentice.
“So this is about bringing in foreign workers on temporary basis to assist with these projects, which will allow us to increase a number of Canadians to apprentice,” said Heinen.
-- murbanski@fortmcmurraytoday.com

Former IBEW Local 1400 (Indianapolis IN) President and Business Manager Passes on after life-long fight for Family and Members

..
A man has a right to change his ways'

by <>Phil Luciano NEWS COLUMNIST, Peoria Journal-Star

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Perhaps Lucky Hedgepeth's final resting place should have two markers:

"TOUGH GUY" and "NICE GUY."

Hedgepeth, who recently died at age 82, lived the first part of his life as a hellion. During his day, if bullets, blood or brawls befouled a Peoria bar, police automatically bet on Hedgepeth.

"He did some things that were the talk of the town," says one of his sons, Daniel Marschner. "He got blamed for some things he didn't do, but he was no angel. He was the first to admit it."

But in later years, he mellowed into a family man. And he became a gung-ho advocate for others who needed a helping hand, especially fellow veterans.

"He had to change," his son says.

---

Hedgepeth grew up in Clarksville, Miss. In 1940, the 16-year-old lied about his age to join the Army. Inducted in Jackson, Miss., he served in the 82nd and 101st Airborne across the European Theater.

Hedgepeth braved repeated injuries and a German prisoner-of-war camp, earning the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After the war, Hedgepeth was shipped back to his original base in Jackson. There, he became friendly with a gal named Charlotte, the daughter of his master sergeant.

Upon his discharge, he and Charlotte married. They relocated to her hometown of Ottawa, Ill., where they would have two sons. When the younger, Daniel, was 6 months old, the couple divorced.

Because of a bullet to the head during the Army, Hedgepeth received a disability pension. But he also earned money in other ways, some of them honest.

During his Army days, Hedgepeth became a renowned middleweight, and even sparred with Sugar Ray Robinson. After the service, he turned pro under the name Lucky Wood.

"He was doing pretty good in the early '50s," son Daniel says.

Meanwhile, Hedgepeth was becoming what old-timers would call a police character.

"I think he was just high-strung," his son says. " ... He was tough. He didn't want anyone to boss him around."

Even when Hedgepeth got in trouble, he somehow held sway.

"He was never convicted of anything I know of," his son says.

---

In Ottawa in 1946, Hedgepeth was arrested at on a charge of assault with intent to kill.

"That was just a fight I got in," he told a newspaper years later. "The guy didn't die or even was hurt bad."

He was acquitted.

In 1951 in Ottawa, he was arrested for keeping a disorderly house. He had to pay only a small fine.

"I merely owned the property this stuff happened in," he complained.

The next year, Hedgepeth relocated to Peoria, where he would remarry, have two daughters and divorce again.

One night he walked into the Clover Club, and bullets screamed past his head. Police arrested a bar regular who claimed he was protecting himself from Hedgepeth - and his threats over a $200 debt.

<> By 1958, Hedgepeth had trained to become a TV repairman - and he even served as the president and business agent of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1440. But he resigned after he was charged with extortion.

Allegedly, he'd called an Iowa man who owned a machine that tested TV tubes. Federal authorities said Hedgepeth demanded $50 from the man to ensure that his machines would remain operating in Peoria.

He was acquitted.

In 1961, Hedgepeth was charged with assault and battery for repeatedly punching the face of WMBD radio announcer John Mason as they passed on the street. Police hinted the attack might have stemmed from a disagreement over a local labor issue.

He was acquitted.

In 1965, he pointed a gun at three men at the Globe Street Tap and ordered them to leave. The men said Hedgepeth refused to serve them because they were black. Hedgepeth said they entered the business drunk and boisterous. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

He was acquitted.

Through the years, other cases followed Hedgepeth, who repeatedly was on the receiving and giving end of threats and attacks.

---

As the 1970s neared, Hedgepeth had a change of heart.

At the time, both of his sons joined the Navy during the Vietnam War. Until then, he'd had little contact with them. But the sudden military connection prompted him to write them letters overseas.

Gradually, he grew closer to all of his offspring. He became a doting grandfather, always badgering the little ones about the need to do all of their schoolwork.

Outsiders also noticed a new Hedgepeth. He became active with local veterans groups, and eventually served as president of the Disabled American Veterans and commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

With the latter group, he started bingo games to support a bus service that took indigent veterans to far-flung Veterans Administration hospitals. One year, he prompted the organization to give a hefty check to the YWCA, saving a a cold-weather shelter just before it was to close.

"I don't want to see anyone freeze," Hedgepeth said at the time.

Hedgepeth lived most of his latter years at the Schlarman House retirement home. He stayed healthy until a recent onslaught of pneumonia, influenza and other maladies.

On April 17, he died peacefully. He was buried in his military uniform.

In his latter years, Hedgepeth occasionally would talk to his family about his wild days of youth - but not wistfully.

"He told me he made mistakes when he was younger, and there was nothing he could do about that," says son Daniel Marschner, 55, who lives in Morris.

"He said a man has a right to change his ways," Marschner says. "That sounds right to me."

PHIL LUCIANO is a columnist with the Journal Star. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, 686-3155 or (800) 225-5757, Ext. 3155.

IBEW Proposals To Increase Corporate Responsibility Pass at Kohl's Annual Shareholder Meeting

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Kohl's shareholders back changes to board terms, severance pacts

by Erik Brooks, The Business Journal of Milwaukee - 2:55 PM CDT Wednesday

Shareholders of Kohl's Corp. backed separate proposals made at the company's annual meeting Wednesday calling for annual elections of corporate board members and shareholder approval of certain executive severance agreements.

The votes were advisory only. Larry Montgomery, chairman and chief executive officer of the Menomonee Falls-based retailer, said after the meeting that the board would consider both proposals.

"We're not going to stiff the shareholders," he said.

The first shareholder request, put forth by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Pension Benefit Fund, called for Kohl's to declassify its current board in order to establish annual elections for directors. It passed with 64 percent of the vote.

The proposal would make the board more accountable to shareholders, according to a summary of the request in the Kohl's proxy statement released in March.

The second proposal, by the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund, called for the Kohl's board to seek shareholder approval for severance agreements with senior executives that are more than 2.99 times the amount of that executive's average compensation over the previous five years. It drew 53 percent support.

The severance proposal would limit the size of "golden parachute" severance payouts for executives who may not deserve them, the AFL-CIO argued in its proxy request.

Montgomery declined to say if the board was likely to support either proposal. The company urged shareholders to reject both in its proxy statement.

In an interview, Montgomery said the recommendation of one-year board terms would be especially problematic because it would limit the ability of Kohl's to hand out long-term contracts for key executives that he said are "commonplace in the industry."

Currently, the 13 members of the Kohl's board serve three-year terms. Those include four members elected by shareholders Tuesday, with terms expiring in 2008. They are:

* James Ericson, the 69-year-old former chairman and CEO of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., Milwaukee;
* William Kellogg, the 61-year-old former chairman and CEO of Kohl's;
* Arlene Meier, the 52-year-old chief operating officer of Kohl's; and
* R. Elton White, the 62-year-old former president of NCR Corp., Dayton, Ohio.

Eighty-eight percent of shareholders backed their election. Shareholders also approved the ratification of Ernst & Young as Kohl's 2005 auditors with 98 percent support.


© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

IBEW Local 2104 (Niagra Falls NY) Union Steward, benefits liason Shirley Hamilton recognized by Citizen Group for Her Leadership

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AWARDS DINNER: Center to honor women for roles in community

4/28/2005
Everywoman Opportunity Center will honor four women at its 21st annual awards dinner at 6 p.m. next Thursday in Salvatore's Italian Gardens, 6461 Transit Road, Lancaster.

Receiving awards of excellence are Jane F. Griffin, principal research scientist at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute; Shirley J. Hamilton, benefits liaison for Local 2104, IBEW, and union steward for operations department at the New York Power Authority; and Maureen Millane Rusk, associate dean of external business programs at Canisius College. The women are being recognized for being role models, risk takers and pathfinders for other women in Western New York.

The 2005 Elizabeth B. Hopkins Alumna Award will be given to Margaret S. Yates, a former participant in Everywoman's Olean office.

Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright to Speak at IBEW Local 738 (Longview TX) Union Hall

Former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright will talk Tuesday in Longview

By GLENN EVANS Monday, April 25, 2005

Former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright will be among panelists in Longview on Tuesday discussing and taking questions in a free forum focused on the community and the work force.

Sponsored by a local labor union and state and local Democrats, the 7 p.m. forum is envisioned as the first of a monthly series of roundtable discussions.

"We're looking for subject matter that most of us can agree on, Republican or Democrat," Gregg County Democratic Party Vice Chairman Steve Richardson said. "Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you probably believe people ought to make a living wage."

The topic of Tuesday's forum, in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall at 2914 E. Marshall Ave., is the country's minimum wage. Along with Wright, panelists include an economist, a union official, local business owners and a workers advocate.

Richardson added that Wright, who was Democratic House speaker from 1987 to 1989, is well-suited to speak on minimum wage from the workers' standpoint.

"Mostly, what he did in his career was stand up for the little guys," Richardson said. "We're really excited about it, because this is pretty small potatoes for him. But he was excited to do it. He's going to be our first speaker this year. We hope to have somebody every month, hopefully into the (2006) primaries.

"We're going to follow this one up next month with a talk about Social Security and health care and Medicare," he said.

The IBEW hall is on the south side of East Marshall Avenue west of Loop 281.
Original Story

Members of IBEW Local 1645 (Lufkin TX) Pressured By Inept Management to Surrender Previously Negotiated Contract Items: "Your Money or Your Job"

NOTE: Inept Plant Managers Across the US Are Trying to Force Workers to Give Up Wages and Benefits Under Threat of Plant Closures. MW

2 unions on board at Abitibi

The Lufkin Daily News, Sunday, April 24, 2005

Two of the Lufkin paper mill's three unions have agreed to contract amendments that could help convince Abitibi-Consolidated to resume operations at the plant — a decision that could come as early as this week.

Debbie Johnston, communications manager for the local mill, said Friday that the two unions, which accounted for roughly 84 percent of the mill's workforce before the facility shut down in early 2004, had agreed on amendments to an existing labor contract that runs through June 2007.

Johnston said via e-mail that unspecified amendments to the labor contract had been approved by both the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers unions following recent discussions with Abitibi.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1645 had yet to ratify the amended contract language, however, according to Johnston. Further details regarding the amended labor agreements weren't immediately available, and attempts to reach union representatives for comment were unsuccessful.

Abitibi-Consolidated could make a decision on either relaunching or selling the mill by Wednesday, when its board of directors will meet to release a statement regarding first-quarter 2005 earnings, according to one local economic development official.

Abitibi in January announced that as part of an overall operations review, the Lufkin mill would either re-launch producing primarily value-added paper or be sold outright. Several of the company's Canadian mills are undergoing the same review process.

Although company officials are keeping quiet about plans for the mill, city of Lufkin Economic Development Director Jim Wehmeier has said he expects to receive word about Abitibi's decision by May 1. That's also the day local officials expect to learn if the state has offered any money from the Texas Enterprise Fund as a possible incentive for the mill's re-launch.

Millions of dollars in incentives have already been approved by local taxing entities, pending the company's decision. The company, which has spent around $350 million on the mill in recent years, estimates that it would take as much as $180 million to convert the mill for a successful re-launch.

Company officials locally have said re-launching mill would mean the return of anywhere from 435 to 530 jobs. Some workers would be hired immediately to help with conversion of the mill's No. 8 machine, while others would be hired over an approximately 18-month period, according to the company.

Johnston also reported that while "good progress" had been made on obtaining the necessary environmental permits to operate the mill if it re-launches, those permits had not been finalized as of Friday.

Around 580 people lost their jobs when the mill was idled. Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas has been tracking the employees who applied for services, and released updated statistics on those employees on Friday.

In December 2004, one year after the company announced plans to idle the mill, roughly half of those employees had either found jobs or were enrolled in college classes or training programs. Workforce Solutions reported Friday that around 220 of those workers had found jobs, but couldn't verify how many were still working and didn't have any information on wage rates. Sixty-one of those employees entered the workforce after completing training programs.

At least 30 former Abitibi employees are still looking for jobs. Nine others have relocated to other areas for employment or to search for jobs. Those numbers are likely higher, however, as Workforce Solutions reported in December that the status of 97 employees was unknown.

Eighty-two employees are currently enrolled in training, most of those at Angelina College, according to Workforce Solutions. The agency reported in December that 15 employees had received retirement benefits, four were self-employed and four were receiving worker's compensation.

Local Abitibi officials reported in December that 85 employees had received retirement benefits, and that 11 employees had been transferred to other Abitibi divisions. Ten employees were retained to maintain the local mill while it was idled.
Lynn Winthrop's e-mail address is lwinthrop@coxnews.com.
Full Story

More than a Thousand IBEW Local 1985 (North Canton OH) Members' Jobs Threatened by Dismal Performance of Maytag Management

NOTE: Workers may pay for managers' incompetence--the Maytag managers have screwed up the best name in consumer goods, but they now expect the workers to pay for management mistakes! MW


What's in a name? Profits!

Hoover must hone identity, market itself, cut costs to regain power in industry

By Erika D. Smith and John Russell, Beacon Journal business writers, Sun, Apr. 24, 2005


Hoover isn't what it used to be.

It's no longer an industry leader. It's no longer synonymous with vacuum cleaners.

There are plenty of reasons for that and many consequences.

In North Canton, where Hoover was based before Maytag Corp. uprooted the company, more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs ride on Hoover's fortunes.

Maytag has vowed to stick around until at least 2008, but a growing number of Hoover workers say they fear the North Canton operations won't exist that long.

The company needs to turn a bigger profit on its high-end vacuums and steam cleaners -- the products Stark County folks build and the products that are hardest to move off store shelves.

More cuts need to be made, Maytag's chairman and chief executive, Ralph Hake, said Friday.

The causes are numerous: pricing pressures from globalization; rising raw materials costs; a miscalculation of the demand forcheaper sweepers; a slew of new competitors.

But what may be hurting Hoover the most is what historically has been its greatest strength -- its brand name.

``The Hoover brand has an awareness built over many years,'' said Roger Blackwell, professor of marketing at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. ``But it needs to appeal to a growing affluent market and innovate.''

Hoover has been innovative, introducing several floor-care products in the last two years.But some of that may have come too late.

The division of Maytag lost market share on the low end when it failed to recognize consumer demand for vacuums around $100. And it lost market share on the high end as Hoover chased low-end sales.

The result, Blackwell said, is a brand that doesn't have as much of an identity as it once did.

People are still very much aware of the brand, but the name Hoover doesn't have the same ring, he said. It's lost some of its luster -- as Cadillac did when it went from being a top-end luxury brand to the cars of choice for older people.

``Brand is much more than awareness,'' Blackwell said. ``Where Hoover has missed is the personality of the brand.''

Personality could be what Hoover's toughest, high-end competitor exudes the most.

Dyson, in just three years after debuting in the United States, became the top upright vacuum cleaner in dollars in the fourth-quarter of 2004. It captured 21 percent of the U.S. market, beating Hoover's 16 percent, according to the market research firm NPD Houseworld. Hoover still leads in unit sales and broader categories of cleaners.

Dyson, a decade-old company based in the United Kingdom, has created a following -- one that's not necessarily based on reliability or price.

Dyson vacuums, which range from $399 to $600, have appeared in episodes of Will and Grace and Friends, and in exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and as props in the window display of the Manhattan clothing store Barney's.

Still, in a 2004 survey by the nonprofit British consumers association Which?, Dyson uprights were named the most likely to need a trip to the repair shop, but also the most likely to be recommended by owners.

``What's important is to create an emotional connection for the brand for the core market,'' Blackwell said.

It's unclear whether Hoover, or Maytag as a whole, has the same connection anymore.

``It seems as though there's a gaping hole in the marketing strength of this company,'' Longbow Research analyst David MacGregor told Maytag's Hake during a conference call Friday.

A year-old Hoover advertising campaign, developed by Element 79 Partners, attempts to make that emotional connection. It targets busy women who want to clean quickly and easily, and get on to the fun things in life. The red Hoover logo is made out to be the symbolic button that makes it possible for consumers to have it all

``We're showing women that Hoover gets it -- both the dirt and the pressures of contemporary life,'' Janel Dufek, Maytag director of marketing development, said in a statement.

Element 79, based in Chicago, didn't return a call seeking comment.

Dyson ads, on the other hand, consist of founder James Dyson explaining why other vacuums don't work as well and showing why Dyson sweepers do.

It's the same kind of tactic that retailers use to sell high-end vacuums.

``You cannot talk your way through a vacuum sale at the higher end. You have to demonstrate,'' Anthony Bologna, owner of United Good Housekeeper inAkron.

People won't plop down $400 for a vacuum cleaner anymore without understanding why they should, he said. Not when there are $59 alternatives on the shelf.

``I think it's very important for companies to explain why vacuums are worthwhile,'' Bologna said.

All of that comes back to marketing strategy, and ultimately, to brand management, said Clayton D. Tolley, president and chief executive of the corporate branding firm Addison Whitney.

``You have to figure out where your brand fits... and what it means to customers,'' he said.

That has become more difficult with recent industry shifts.

Floor care has gone from an industry dominated by only a few players selling at one, high price point to an industry skewed toward the low end with more than a dozen major players.

Hoover has introduced new vacuums at the low end and at its bread-and-butter high end. And that, Tolley said, has helped to erode its brand name.

``It's hard for the luxury brand to be the luxury brand at the high-end level when you're selling it at the low end,'' he said.

Brand identity is always important, but it's even more important when an industry becomes more competitive. Companies have to carve out a niche for their brands -- something that consumers can hang their hats on. It's something, Tolley said, that needs constant tweaking.

``If you miss it, and you're playing catch-up,'' he said, ``it could be impossible (to rebuild) or it -- it's going to take years.''

Pressure to cut costs

In addition to marketing hurdles, Hoover faces enormous pressure to slash its manufacturing costs by following the lead of its competitors in moving production offshore.

Dyson recently moved production of all vacuum cleaners from England to Malaysia. Electrolux AB of Sweden, parent of Illinois-based Eureka, is moving production from Western Europe and the United States to Mexico and Hungary.

Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co., the maker of Dirt Devil, makes vacuum cleaners in China.

Bissell Homecare Inc., the largest seller of vacuum cleaners in the U.S. last year, recently closed its original factory in Grand Rapids, Mich., throwing 200 people out of work, and moved its production offshore.

None of the companies would say how much they've been able to save by moving production overseas. Yet those companies are profitable. Last year, Maytag lost $9 million. On Friday, its first-quarter earnings crept back into the black, to $7.7 million, but still down 80 percent from a year earlier. Its stock plunged 28 percent on the news.

Hoover has been moving production to low-cost facilities in recent years, including Texas, Mexico and China. But it hasn't been enough.

And as Hoover's costs remain high, the average price of a vacuum cleaner has dropped by more than 50 percent in the last five years, according to HomeWorld Business. Many companies offer lightweight cleaners that sell for under $49.

The trend started in 2000, as Bissell cut the price of its cheapest soft-bag upright from $59 to $49 at Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's largest retailer. Bissell sold about 1 million cleaners that year, accounting for almost 10 percent of the U.S. upright market.

That forced other companies, including Eureka and Royal, to cut their prices. At first, Hoover resisted, telling analysts that price wasn't everything and consumers would be willing to pay more for Hoover's brand name and better products.

But eventually, Hoover followed suit.

But that's not to say that consumers are turning their backs completely on more expensive sweepers.

Rick Bryson, owner of Bryson's Sweeper Shop in Akron, said he's noticed the shift. Consumers are still buying inexpensive vacuums from big-box retailers, but the throwaway craze is becoming too costly for some people.

``Four or five times a week, I get people through the door saying, `I'm tired of these cheap vacuums,' '' he said.

At Best Buy, which recently dropped every Maytag brand except for Hoover, consumers are going for the higher-price Hoover and Dyson sweepers, too, said Stacy Silks, Best Buy's senior buyer for floor care and microwaves.

Dyson is launching a new cleaner this week, with a retail price of $599, that rolls, tilts and pivots on a large ball instead of small wheels. That allows homeowners to sharply turn the machine with a simple movement of the wrist, rather than dragging it it back and forth like traditional uprights.

``It's an absolutely revolutionary technology with over 100 patents,'' said Clare Mullin, global marketing director for Dyson.

Last year, Dyson rolled out another high-end product, a bagless upright with a removable wand. Sales beat forecasts, Mullin said.

Others aren't surprised that Dyson is having success where Hoover has been struggling. But part of Hoover's problem is that it has been slow to recognize major trends. It was the last major company to launch a bagless vacuum. It was the last major company in the industry to recognize that prices were falling and it would have to take similar steps.

Hoover traditionally has competed at the premium end of the market and shows no signs of abandoning it. Hoover is aggressively going head-to-head with Dyson in the bagless self-propelled upright market. Hoover has a model for $299 and Dyson has one for $399.

``There is a proven market for high-end vacuum cleaners,'' said Bill McLoughlin, executive editor of HomeWorld Business, an industry publication.

Painful for area

Maytag, meanwhile, has been moving production of Hoover's low-cost products to facilities in the Southwest. North Canton is still smarting from news in March that it could lose hundreds more jobs. In the last two years, the local work force -- both blue collar and white collar -- has been cut nearly in half.

``Obviously, when you're trying to compete against China and Mexico, it makes it pretty difficult,'' said Jim Repace, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1985, which represents about 1,400 hourly workers in Stark County.

Maytag is making no secret that it will do whatever it takes to compete better. Company officials said Friday that competitors are ``attacking us from low-cost countries.''

Two of the most vulnerable U.S. plants, Maytag officials said, are a laundry factory in Newton, Iowa, and the North Canton floor-care factory.

Hake, the CEO, said Maytag is in deep talks with the unions of both plants to cut costs and become more competitive. The company said it will honor its contract with North Canton's union, which runs through 2008, but it could announce its long-range plans much sooner.

``This is not something we expect to drag out,'' Hake said.

Options include cutting more costs here, investing in other locations and then ``migrating'' North Canton's product lines there over time.

Union officials say they are trying hard to meet Maytag halfway to keep operations here. But one thing the union won't do is to reopen its 109-page contract, which took effect in December 2003, and gives workers a huge raft of rights and protections in areas from holiday pay and shift premiums to grievances and call-back procedures.

``We are doing everything humanly possible to keep the plant in operation beyond 2008,'' Repace said. ``We're meeting. We're talking. The lines of communication are open.''

But it remains to be seen whether it will be enough.


Erika D. Smith can be reached at 330-996-3748 or ersmith@thebeaconjournal.com. John Russell can be reached at 330-996-3550 or at jrussell@thebeaconjournal.com.
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IBEW Local 405 (Cedar Rapids IA) Apprentices Build a Home and Help Young People Choose a Craft

Students develop skills through school's house-building project

FAIRFAX, Iowa (AP) -- Prairie High School teamed up with business and government to provide a house-building project designed to utilize and foster the skills of students in varied fields.

In the first year of Prairie Home Construction, school officials chose 15 juniors and seniors from a pool of 60 applicants to build a 2,800-square-foot house valued at $215,000 to $245,000.

The students work from noon to 3 p.m. every school day.

"It gives students a relative pass to working in a field that involves construction," instructor Joe Greathouse said. "It really takes a project like this to understand the scope of things."

Junior Ryan Steichen, 17, plans to use the experience to his advantage when pursuing a career in pipe fitting after high school.

"It's pretty neat how we all get to do this," Steichen said. "It gives experience if you do want to do this job. You learn on the job, hands-on, instead of figuring it out in your head."

Greathouse said the project is special because the accounting, botany, design, marketing and art classes chip in to work the books; landscape; choose cabinets and carpeting; and other tasks.

"It's just like a real business," said Norma Bowersox, who teaches the advanced accounting class. "It's incredible because the kids really take ownership in it; they take pride in it. (The project) teaches them things that just aren't in the textbooks."

Bowersox said the information gathered this year will be valuable in planning next years project. Greathouse will have material costs at his fingertips.

In addition, private individuals, unions and companies support the project.

Greathouse solicited the help of Tim Carson, representative of the U.S. Department of Labor in Cedar Rapids, to facilitate relationships with building contractors and unions that provide materials and instruction.

"Our role is trying to create a link between business, industry, education and government," Carson said. "We want to expose the youth to the construction industry and the apprenticeship world through business contacts."

Among the many organizations doling out support, a handful pitched in significant amounts of material and instruction, including Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 125 and IBEW 405.

"The opportunity is one of the main reasons we got on board with (the project)," said Glen Henry, training director for the IBEW Electricians Apprenticeship Program. "We're always striving to showcase the opportunities the building trades have to offer."

Henry said the fact that more than 120 apprentices are involved in his program opens the heck out of the eyes of the kids at Prairie. Students have already expressed interest or already applied to the IBEW apprenticeship program.

Greathouse said that without the help received from IBEW, other organizations and individuals, startup costs could never have been recouped.

The instructor said students will build another home next year, and similar offshoots will be available in the future.

"It's nice to see something you've put a lot of time into," said senior Cody Dill. "It's good that the whole school is getting involved."