Lavelle workers get new contract, return to work

BURLINGTON, Wis. (Sept. 14)—Union workers at custom molder Lavelle Industries Inc.´s Burlington plant are back to work after ratifying a new 3½-year deal and ending a 16-day strike. United Steelworkers of America Local 892, which struck Aug. 5, overwhelmingly approved the pact Aug. 21. The 151-member local twice voted down company proposals prior to the strike. The main sticking point in negotiations was health insurance. Union workers never had a co-payment taken out of their checks in the past, and refused to share premium costs. But the new deal, which expires Feb. 28, 2004, does include insurance co-payments, with a decrease in the deductibles for individual and family plans from the original proposals. The pact also includes annual wage increases of 4 percent, 2 1/4 percent and 2 1/4 percent.