MUSKEGON--Union employees at Brunswick Bowling & Billiards are working hard to save their jobs at the Muskegon plant where management is considering moving 140 bowling ball production jobs out of the country.
Bargaining team members of Local 1813 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers AFL-CIO were to meet this morning with company management and community and state officials to see what can be done to keep the jobs in Muskegon, according to union President Bill Ream.
The meeting with city of Muskegon, Muskegon Area First and Michigan Economic Development Corp. officials is part of an ongoing discussion between Local 1813 and the company, Ream said.
Company officials alerted union leadership earlier this month that bowling ball production could be moved outside of the United States in the next one to two years. Ream said a company decision could be made in the next 30 to 60 days.
Earlier this month, Brunswick corporate officials in Lake Forest, Ill., emphasized that no decision on the Muskegon operation has been made but that reducing costs was key to keeping the jobs here.
"We are making every effort to retain those jobs in Muskegon," Ream said before the meeting this morning in company offices at 525 W. Laketon. "To retain these jobs, we are prepared to do more with less."
Ream said the union has worked with its international representatives and an outside consultant to explore a "lean manufacturing" program that would reduce manufacturing costs in the plant. Lean manufacturing practices generally call for reorganizing the way industrial production occurs, eliminating wasted steps, keeping inventories low and reducing waste.
"We have been told that we need to cut overhead and labor costs," Ream said. "We are hoping for the best."
Local 1813 is in the last year of a three-year agreement. The current labor contract comes due in early January.
What the community or state can do to help the company and its union come to an arrangement that would keep the jobs in Muskegon is unknown. This morning's meeting was a beginning of efforts to see what public assistance options are available, community leaders said.
State Rep. Doug Bennett, D-Muskegon Township, brought the MEDC into the discussions. He said it was important for Muskegon and Michigan to hold on to its manufacturing base if "high-tech" jobs are to be retained and created.
"We want to see if there is a way to save the jobs," Bennett said. "The union and the management want to talk. I am sure all employees want to keep those jobs here."