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Union Blasts Tyco Electronics Move to Mexico
When Tyco Electronics purchased Lucent’s manufacturing plant in Mesquite, Texas, about 1,000 members of Local 6260 were ready to make a new start with a new company. Tyco had agreed to honor Lucent’s contract, preserving wages and benefits, seniority and pensions.
That was in January.
Almost immediately the company announced a surplus of 200 workers at the facility, near Dallas. In June about 180 workers were declared surplus, then in September, another 100.
All the while, CWA Representative Mary Jo Sherman said, Tyco has been shifting work to another plant in Matamoros, Mexico.
The most alarming news came Oct. 11, when Tyco Electronics Power Systems announced it would cease operations at the Mesquite plant by March, phasing out the remaining 596 union workers.
“Tyco has had a blatant disregard for the employees who came with the sale,” said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for Communications and Technologies. “In the wake of Sept. 11, companies have been bending over backwards to keep people in the U.S. employed. It’s totally irresponsible for Tyco to be sending work to Mexico.”
The 1 million-square-foot plant, long a mainstay of the Mesquite economy, began as a Western Electric facility 30 years ago. It became an AT&T plant in the 1984 divestiture, then was spun off to Lucent Technologies in the mid-1990s. Tyco purchased the facility from Lucent for $2.5 billion.
Sherman said that when Tyco acquired the plant, the workers wanted to help the business grow. “Let them keep all the work that’s in Mesquite and bring the work back from Matamoros,” Sherman said. “This could be an opportunity for growth at the facility.”
The Mesquite plant manufactures power supply, power conversion and backup power equipment for electronic communications.
Local 6260 President Rudy Anderson feels blindsided that the local had no chance to present alternatives to the phase-out. “We weren’t given an opportunity to meet with them and discuss the situation before they made the decision to close,” he said.
That was in January.
Almost immediately the company announced a surplus of 200 workers at the facility, near Dallas. In June about 180 workers were declared surplus, then in September, another 100.
All the while, CWA Representative Mary Jo Sherman said, Tyco has been shifting work to another plant in Matamoros, Mexico.
The most alarming news came Oct. 11, when Tyco Electronics Power Systems announced it would cease operations at the Mesquite plant by March, phasing out the remaining 596 union workers.
“Tyco has had a blatant disregard for the employees who came with the sale,” said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for Communications and Technologies. “In the wake of Sept. 11, companies have been bending over backwards to keep people in the U.S. employed. It’s totally irresponsible for Tyco to be sending work to Mexico.”
The 1 million-square-foot plant, long a mainstay of the Mesquite economy, began as a Western Electric facility 30 years ago. It became an AT&T plant in the 1984 divestiture, then was spun off to Lucent Technologies in the mid-1990s. Tyco purchased the facility from Lucent for $2.5 billion.
Sherman said that when Tyco acquired the plant, the workers wanted to help the business grow. “Let them keep all the work that’s in Mesquite and bring the work back from Matamoros,” Sherman said. “This could be an opportunity for growth at the facility.”
The Mesquite plant manufactures power supply, power conversion and backup power equipment for electronic communications.
Local 6260 President Rudy Anderson feels blindsided that the local had no chance to present alternatives to the phase-out. “We weren’t given an opportunity to meet with them and discuss the situation before they made the decision to close,” he said.