ITHACA, N.Y. — Workers at auto-parts manufacturer BorgWarner will remain on strike after they voted to reject a tentative agreement on Friday. The strike is now in its sixth day.
Teamsters Local 317 officials, which represents over 700 workers at BorgWarner’s Lansing facility, said that 67% of the 597 workers who voted rejected the proposal.
It’s the second offer from BorgWarner that the union’s members have turned down in this round of labor contract negotiations. On Sept. 6, 88% of voting workers turned down an offer from the company, setting the stage for a strike that began after midnight on Sept. 8.
The labor dispute at BorgWarner comes as the company plans to downsize its operations at its Lansing plant. The company manufactures timing chains as well as other internal engine components at the plants, but in 2023 BorgWarner announced that it would be closing a plant on the Lansing campus by 2026.
After layoffs that began last year, BorgWarner is the fifth largest employer in the county, with about 1,000 employees.
BorgWarner spokesperson Michelle Collins said in a statement, “After weeks of negotiations BorgWarner reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters that would have continued to provide top-tier jobs for our employees. We are disappointed that the agreement was rejected by a majority of the membership.”
Several workers who spoke to The Ithaca Voice said the wage increases BorgWarner offered are inadequate after the high inflation rates in recent years. Wages have been a central issue of the negotiations between the company and the union.
The tentative agreement offered a general wage increase of 21% over four years, but workers complained that their wages have not kept up with inflation, and the increase is too little to keep up with the spending power they’ve lost.
In the contract workers at BorgWarner are currently working under, which expired after Sept. 8, workers received a general wage increase of about 7.4% between 2020 and 2024. In addition, workers received a wage increase of $1 an hour, or an approximately 4% general wage increase, in May 2023 as a part of a bridge agreement.
According to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, inflation has increased prices by just over 21% in the last four years.
The tentative agreement also included a bonus that would have paid workers $5,500 upon the ratification of the contract.
One long-time BorgWarrner employee, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said it was a “no brainer” to vote against the contract.
John Cometti, a business agent for Teamsters Local 317, said that BorgWarner improved its offer from the previous agreement, but workers are “fed up.”
He said BorgWarner laying off workers and expanding operations abroad has made it feel like the members he represents could one day lose their jobs.
“They’re looking for respect and dignity,” Cometti said.
Cometti said it’s unclear when negotiations will continue. As of Saturday, he said company representatives had not responded to the Teamsters Local 317 members voting down another tentative agreement.
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