SCA Tissue's Glenn Falls Workers Ratify New Contract
SCA Tissue North America's Glenn Falls, N.Y., USW (United Steelworkers) members have ratified a labor contract that constitutes a master labor agreement applicable to union workers at all SCA Tissue operations. By ratifying the contract, employees at the location gain access to a SCA/USW national framework for wages and benefits, exact terms of which were not disclosed. The contract also includes an agreement to collaborate on productivity improvements and on the creation of a joint health and wellness committee. The pact, which will run for four years when the current agreement expires in July 2010, was praised by company and union spokesmen as reflecting the cooperative approach both parties have taken in labor negotiations.
Since the 2001 acquisition of the South Glens Falls mill and the Greenwich converting plant, SCA Tissue has invested nearly $70 million in its upstate New York facilities. The operations have an annual direct economic impact in the region of $120 million. SCA Tissue has nearly 430 employees in the area at its mill in South Glens Falls, converting facility in Greenwich, and distribution center in Saratoga.
The company's progressive relationship with its employees includes investing more than 10,000 hours per year in employee training and creation of a Joint Advisory Committee of union and management personnel who meet quarterly to work mutually on solving challenges. The company also has developed a High Performance Work System that empowers employees to be involved in business decision and workflow initiatives.
SCA Tissue manufactures all of its tissue from 100% recycled materials. The South Glens Falls mill processes 110,000 tons of recycled paper annually, producing 80,000 tons of paper that is converted into more than 5 million cases of bath tissue, folded, and hard-wound towels that are sold in the away-from-home market to commercial venues such as restaurants, office buildings, health care facilities, and other public venues in the Northeast U.S.
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