SWAT
Together We Can!
A federation of construction and metal-working trades.

Dolphin Alley
346 South Commerical Avenue Suite #2
Aransas Pass, TX 73886
Phone: 361.758.9622
Toll Free: 866.307.7928
Fax: 361.758.9623

What's Wrong at Technip-Coflexip?
(continued)

Pension Plan and 401-K:

Technip-Coflexip provides its employees with a 401-K plan where workers are able to set aside a portion of their salary and the company at their option contributes to the plan based on company profits.

Workers receive no vesting on the discretionary company contribution for the first 3 years; they then vest at 20% per year. Essentially this means that if a worker left after 4 years of service they would receive only 20% of the money that TKP had been contributing to the plan. In order to be fully vested the employee must be at the company for 7 years.

Many American companies have gotten into the habit of telling their employees that a 401-K plan is as good as a pension when it comes to retirement. This is not the case.

Generally, union-negotiated pensions are called defined benefit pension plans. That means the employer makes whatever contribution is necessary to pay out a defined amount to each employee at retirement. Defined benefit plans are generally a set amount per month or a set percent-age each month multiplied by years of service. An example would be: 2.5% of annual wage x years of service = pension benefit. An eligible worker would receive 50% of their salary with 20 years of service, 62.5% of salary for 25 years, 75% for 30 years ... and so on.

In many union contracts, retired workers also receive full-family, company paid health insurance. 401-K savings plans are also available to many union workers as a voluntary option in addition to the defined benefit pension plan. The best part of the defined benefit plan is that 80% of the base pension is protected by the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation, an independent agency of the US government.

401-K plans are not guaranteed and are subject to the whims of the stock market. With a union pension, workers retire with dignity and an income they can rely on in their "golden years". More and more non-union companies are moving to 401-K plans so that they can sever all ties with the worker once they leave the company or retire.

Vacation:

Employees receive no paid vacation for the first 3 years they work in the yards. After 3 years they receive one week. No second week of paid vacation is given until they have spent 15 years with the company. Workers do get paid time off at Christmas but only if they have been there for 6 months prior to the holiday. Workers frequently do not take advantage of this time off as they are worried by the persistent rumors of layoffs and fear that taking time off could be viewed negatively by their bosses.

Layoffs:

The fabrication industry, like all other sectors of the oil and gas industry is subject to a boom and bust cycle: when the industry is down, companies cut back.

How such layoffs are handled shows the level of respect with which TKP treats its employees.

During the last cycle of layoffs at the yards, workers were called in and given pink slips. TKP provided no advance notice of the layoffs and benefits stopped the day they were laid off. There was also a discrepancy between the message given to some employees, who were told they would be recalled when work picked up vs. that given to others, who were simply sent packing.

Workers have further complained that layoffs were not done evenly; that those who are friends with supervisors and management often kept their jobs while others were let go.

There is further evidence that having an on the job accident negatively influences whether TKP employees were kept on during down times, or laid off. We have spoken with many workers who were laid off that had previously had lost time accidents or reportable injuries. One worker with 16 years of service was laid off while a co-worker with only 6 months of service continued to work.

Anti-Union Message

Despite Technip-Coflexip Chairman Daniel Valot's recent commitment to honor the ILO standards regarding respect for workers rights to organize, the company has been sending its workers an anti-union message. For example:

• Workers are being told by supervisors that competitor J. Ray McDermott is closing down its Morgan City, Louisiana facility and moving to Texas because workers in Morgan City voted for the union.
  
  
• Workers are being told that they will be fired if they support or organize for the union.
  
  
• Workers are being told that the yard will close down if the workers vote for the union.
  
  
• Workers are being told that the yard will lose potential contracts because customers fear the instability that comes with a union workforce.
  
  
• Workers are being told that they will lose existing benefits if they vote for the union.
  
  
• Workers are being worked additional hours since the union campaign started. This makes it harder to contact the workers.
  
  
• Workers are being promised raises, apparently to deter them from organizing.
  
  
• Workers are being told that the union will take 50% of all future raises.
  
  
• Workers are being told they will be fired if they attend a union meeting.

Conclusion

Workers at Technip-Coflexip yards in Texas are being treated unfairly and with disrespect, possibly in violation of United States laws.

Supervisors are violating the ILO Conventions and criteria that Daniel Valot pledged to honor and implement.

These Texas workers need Global Solidarity and community support to overcome the pervasive anti-union campaigns and obstacles to organizing that mark most organizing efforts in the United States, particularly in the South.

Technip-Coflexip workers are reaching out to unions all over the world who represent workers at Technip-Coflexip and community leaders in the Gulf Coast states to tell them about the plight of these American workers and to seek assistance in creating a better future for themselves and their families.

<<< Back to Part 1