Reynolds Tobacco employees to vote on joining union

For the third time in 6½ years, production and maintenance workers at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will have the chance to vote on union representation.

Reynolds confirmed Tuesday that a joint petition was filed Sept. 12 with the National Labor Relations Board by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

Reynolds said a secret-ballot vote will take place Oct. 20-21 at its Tobaccoville and Whitaker Park plants.

According to the petition, 1,234 employees are eligible to vote. Included are all regular full- and part-time employees at the plants — all wage grades, flat-rate employees, electrical technicians, mechanical instructors, plant clerical workers and shippers.

The unions said in the petition that at least 30 percent of eligible Reynolds employees support forming a union. For the unions to win, they need to receive a majority of the votes cast, not a majority of eligible voters. Objections to the election proceedings can be filed by either side.

The labor board's regional office in Winston-Salem will administer the election.

Union representation of workers would allow for negotiation of a contract that could cover pay, benefits and working conditions and gives employees the ability to strike.

Voting will occur between noon and 4 p.m. Oct. 20 and between 9:30 p.m. Oct. 20 and 2:30 a.m. Oct. 21 in the administration training room at Tobaccoville, and between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Oct. 20 and between 10 p.m. Oct. 20 and 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21 in the main conference room at Whitaker Park.

The unions also jointly held an election in May 2006. The vote was 1,228 against union representation, 862 for and 23 ballots were challenged.

In March 2005, the machinists and aerospace union held an election in which 1,185 votes were cast against union representation, 618 for and 50 ballots were challenged.

Officials with each union could not be reached for comment Tuesday concerning the motives behind their petitions.

Reynolds spokeswoman Maura Payne said the company has not changed its stance that "a union will not benefit our employees or our business."

"We continue to believe that the best way for our company to grow our business is to work directly with employees on work issues, not through a third party," Payne said.

"We are communicating with employees and encouraging them to get all the facts before they make this important decision."

Reynolds and the unions waged heated campaigns in the 2005 and 2006 union efforts.

Workers supporting the union said during those campaigns they were upset over cuts in their benefits — such as increased health-care costs for employees and a change in the company's overtime-pay policy — while senior company officials were awarded large salaries, bonuses and stock.

Reynolds has 1,355 manufacturing employees at the plants. Many of its production employees make $50,000 to $67,000 a year.

By contrast, the average manufacturing employee in North Carolina makes $31,574 a year, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

Since December 2009, Reynolds has had 450 manufacturing employees accept a voluntary-departure offer, including a severance package.

The primary reasons for the downsizing were the continuing decline in demand for cigarettes nationwide and higher efficiency gains from consolidating production at Whitaker Park into Tobaccoville.

Since 1983, Reynolds American Inc. and its subsidiaries have eliminated at least 85 percent of their local workforce through at least 18 job-cut announcements, going from 15,500 full-time workers to about 2,400.

The employment breakdown is about 1,960 with Reynolds Tobacco, 400 with RAI Services Co. and 40 with Reynolds American.