On Strike

Temper said:
JFC! Who do you think they want to sell to? Non members of the public
Simon,

The company readily provides a point of contact to the people here on these forums.

customerservice@camillusknives.com

Posting top management's personal e-mail (by an obviously disgruntled union worker) is obvious a ploy to choke out their accounts and make an already difficult job harder.

As a small business owner, this seems like something you would readily understand.

Jax
 
GlassJax said:
Then for fair exposure, since everyone here seems to be left-wing leaning types, please post the union president's e-mail, so I may correspond directly with him.

It's the union killing the company, IMHO, not management.

Jax
I'm here and i dont lean left. I care nothing for dictators,socialist,baby murderer's,gays, Gunhaters,Constitution rewriting,or anything else immoral or Anti-American including unions!
 
So, politics aside....... What is the best way for me to support the working man at Camillus? I am a spyderco man but I own some of their (sic) knives and would hate to see them go under like schrade.... As far as politics go, I am an independent leaning towards the republicans..... The way I see it, imho, everybody is screwed if we can mot push politics aside to solve and succesfully diminesh the problems this country faces. Big money catches everbodies eyes until they realize how it was obtained. I know there are exceptions to this statement but unfortunately they are the exception and not the rule.
 
Once again, in my opinion, the best way to help the company continue, and therefore the workers to have jobs to return to, is to buy Camillus knives from primary dealers. Not yard sales, flea markets, or eBay, but stocking dealers who will reorder their supplies from Camillus.

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
Once again, in my opinion, the best way to help the company continue, and therefore the workers to have jobs to return to, is to buy Camillus knives from primary dealers. Not yard sales, flea markets, or eBay, but stocking dealers who will reorder their supplies from Camillus.

Codger
To this end, I need some information. I have a Becker Machax and really like it. Because of this, I am considering buying a BK7 (Becker Combat) and/or Becker Brute. Were any of these made offshore or were they all made in the U.S.?
 
Notice how my request for Union Leadership e-mails to be posted here has gone unheeded?

Because Knifeworker knows exactly why he posted those top management addresses, as an annoyance and nothing more.

I'll take anything. Please post the union business or personal e-mail accounts that go to the National President, Local President, or even a Shop Steward.

I hate to see the Steelworkers Union kill another American Company, but we're all watching it happen. Remember, these are the guys that you, Knifeworker, are paying to negotiate a contract for you. Instead, they go home to a big steak, a cold beer, and a fat wife (all that you paid for with your union dues), while I'm sure your and your fellow 77 other employees are tightening their belts. You need to wake up and realize that your union cares a lot less about you then those managers that work with you everyday.

Sorry I used too much of a generalization with the left-leaning thing sdt11670. I know there are more like-minded people here then just you and I. Thanks for reminding me.

Jax
 
GlassJax,

Sorry for the delay in responding. If we were big enough to have a union office with internet access, I would gladly post the president's email address. We barely have what one would call an office. If you are looking for an email address, the best I could do is to go to www.uswa.org and follow the links to District 4. And I certainly would not describe myself as "disgruntled". Frustrated, yes, disgruntled, no. Again, I will say - All we are looking for is a fair contract. Most of us realize that there has to be concessions. At this point, the company is unwilling to even sit down and negotiate. The truth of the matter is, none of us are ever returning to work. The company does not want the union and will, in all likelihood, be sold in the very near future. What that means for Camillus Cutlery and its employees is anybody's guess. We appreciate the effort of buying Camillus products but my guess is it is too little, too late.

I am not going to turn this into a personal battle between you and me. This is not what it is about. I do suggest you read this entire thread as well as the "Camillus bankrupt" thread and get a real feel as to the nature of this strike.

Doc-Canada,

All Beckers were made in Camillus. None off-shore.



Wishing everyone well!
 
GlassJax,
A former sharpener here. Placing the managements e-mail addresses here in this forum will mean and do nothing. Management were not receptive to their workers ideas in the past. Workers were left on their own for years to work without leadership. We watched money being spent while they shoved knowledgable people out the door. Getting rid of people that we depended on ,to use their salaries to hire two people to turn the place around. The company then let those two go a year later, but not without causing a lot of dissention. This has been going on for years. Everyone is going to suffer from lack of communication. Customers, management, workers, the banks, and the owners. It's truly a shame that a company that is family owned for over 130 years to allow to allow this to happen. We as their workers that they depend on to make their product are only asking for fairness. Don't take away our income that we now have. We haven't had any raises in years, and were not expecting any. We just are in shock that they wanted to reach in deep so deep. There are no easy answers. Life will go on. To survive, to hold your head up, be fair to those you depend on. By the way, there are no steaks to speak of, beer is tasting pretty flat. ( and those FAT WIVES?) well they getting skinnier every day and looking Damn fine. Myself included!!!!
 
Knifeworker,

Thanks for the reply. I wish you and all the Camillus workers the best of luck, it certainly looks like you're going to need it.

FWIW, I believe you posted the email addresses with the best of intentions.

Doc
 
HunterH said:
By the way, there are no steaks to speak of, beer is tasting pretty flat. ( and those FAT WIVES?) well they getting skinnier every day...

HunterH,

My whole point (other then management e-mails should not be posted here, as that is a bullying tactic IMHO) is that your union is sending you guys up the river and they don't seem to care. My understanding is that you all declared a strike, I assume under recommendation and agreement from the union. It was not a management lock-out. The union leadership are the ones sitting at home, without a care in the world, because they still have a job tomorrow. They are the ones I stated were eating steak and drinking beer. Sorry for the ambiguous pronoun use. I never intended to apply that statement towards the workers there.

Anyway, I saw in another thread that you had found a new job and were moving on. Good luck in all you do. The only good thing is that unemployment is at a low (although I don't know the local situation around your area) and hopefully the others will be as fortunate as you to land a new job quickly.

And again, I don’t think any of this is the workers fault, but it is their problem. Management defiantly has some culpability here. Top management will probably walk away from this with a smile and a wad of cash, but remember, mid and low management will be in the unemployment line with you. The low and mid level manager is a big loser in all this too. And the union…will keep on sucking off the effort of hard working people such as you until they put every business they are tied too out of business.

Again, these are all my opinion. No facts are stated in any of the above statements.

Jax
 
sdt11670 said:
I'm here and i dont lean left. I care nothing for dictators,socialist,baby murderer's,gays, Gunhaters,Constitution rewriting,or anything else immoral or Anti-American including unions!
If you are going to make inflamatory posts like that, please take them to Whine & Cheese or, at minimum, to the Political Arena. They are inappropriate here.
 
FullerH said:
If you are going to make inflamatory posts like that, please take them to Whine & Cheese or, at minimum, to the Political Arena. They are inappropriate here.
Yes it probably was not appropriate here untill the thread was turning sharper and sharper left and as badly as lefties want to completely rewrite the constitution the freedom of speech is still the first and the second still exist to back them all up in case the government forgets.
 
GlassJax,
The management that are left are hurting also. Those in the union that are walking will tell you that part of us are still inside the plant. It is very hard and depressing for all. For the most part management has no say in what goes on also. There are only a few that hold the company in their hands and call the shots. The people knew what we agreed on when all voted not to accept the company's offer.
 
Yes, management is definitely at fault for dragging the company down, no question about it. But the union was not very smart with their old fashioned approach of holding a knife to the throat of a sick company, and finally killing it. Management and union did not act very smart. But the real villain here is Bank of America, who has been neglectful in their affairs and let Camillus slide in a hole so big they can't get out of it. At this stage it's usually the bank that's calling the shots.They want their money, and if they can get it by somebody buying the name and the design and then sell a chines product under that name, they will go for it. And they don't care about another American manufacturer going down the tubes, or American workers losing their jobs. While union and management are busy throwing stones at each other, the bank is killing both.
 
In respect to the above post by knifeintheheart, a very interesting concept. One that I cannot readily disagree with. In fact, your point about the bank's involvement is dead on. As I have said in a previous post, there is more than enough blame to go around. That being said, I really don't see what choice the union has or had other than to do what we did. The company has proven for years (especially over roughly the last couple since one of the owner's got involved) that they are not capable of running a successful manufacturing business. I truly believe that the union has given them every opportunity to do such. Every request by the company to help out the business has been agreed to by the union up until the contract vote. As is evident by this thread and every other thread in the Camillus forum, management is not interested in what the public or anybody else has to say. And, quite honestly, I don't believe this is a "company vs. union" problem. Regardless, if there was a union or not, Camillus would still be in the shape they are in today. Again, the reality is, Camillus will cease to exist as we have known it. My guess is it will become an import business with another company making a small line of Camillus products. Happy 130th Anniversary to Camillus!
 
Knifeworker and knife in the heart,
I agree with the fact that the bank is at fault in this too. As a result, two weeks ago I closed all accounts that I had with them. Maybe a drop in the ocean but I did not want to do business with a company that affected so many lives in a negative way. Can't go on the what if's, I need to go with the WHAT NOW?
I"m waiting it out, hopefully go to school to become a physical therapist. I did'nt want another dead end job. I do have a couple classes this month with the career center for career mapping. Being without a income is a new experience that I'm not happy with but I'm trying not to make more mistakes that I'll have to deal with.
As for the union, I never had much faith in them. Always tried to fight my own battles. Even said my peace with higher up ( to their surprise ). One thing that I did not do was tell them how to run their business. Knew that wasn't going anywhere.
Any suggestions from anyone?
 
Enough with the blame. We all agree this was a disaster of great proportion from all parties. What was that Paul Simon sang? "people talking without listening"....but let's throw it out to the forum...who knows out there anyone that could do anything about salvaging this, and how could you help? No one out there will buy a company WITH a union, on strike to boot.No one out there will take on debts that are more than what the company is worth. Yes, there may be someone, possibly a competitor, that will buy the name and shut the facility down. So, if you have a losing hand, how do you pull an ace out of the deck? Any ideas?
 
So, if you have a losing hand, how do you pull an ace out of the deck?

You redefine the rules of the game. They abandon the mass cutlery market and become a leading supplier of custom collaborations and other premium collectible knives. They become like a Busse, Randall, or Chris Reeves line only bigger. They still have a great name among collectors; perhaps it's time to drop the mass marts and focus on their strengths. They may have to lose the union anyway since their labor needs may be somewhat different; but, the hard part will be getting the financing together. They have waited way too long to do something they should have done years ago.

n2s
 
Anthony Lombardo said:
name one compnay that DOES want a union?
Anyone with enough common sense to not listen to the recruiters! It is not the companies desiring the very thing that will end up crippling it! it is the unfortunate fact that people lack common sense and take in every word of the recruiter! Years ago i had a factory job and the first thing the recruiter did was try to fill my head with all the bullcrap and i refused to fill out the forms allowing them to take their dues and still they said we will fight for your rights whether you pay or not and i assured them that they were fighting for their rights and not mine and i was very capable of fighting my own battles!
 
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