WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - An Alabama manufacturer and the union representing its workers ended a lengthy labor dispute Tuesday after signing a settlement agreement endorsed by the National Labor Relations Board.
The settlement was reached with the assistance of a volunteer mediator assigned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The issue being disputed between the company -- Illinois-based NTN Bower Corp. -- and the union -- the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Workers of America -- was the company's failure to restore a substantial number of former strikers to their jobs following a 2008 strike. The company's refusal to recognize the union, which had represented employees at the facility for several decades, was also a point of contention.
The company, which manufactures precision roller bearings, will reinstate 60 former strikers to their previous jobs at the Hamilton, Ala., plant. It will also distribute $1.85 million in back pay to current and former employees.
NTN Bower will also recognize the UAAAWA as the employees' representative. The previous collective bargaining agreement terms will apply. The agreement resolves multiple pending cases and several recent charges being investigated by the Regional Office, the NLRB said.