Vegas Coke workers could strike tonight

Alana Roberts

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

Warehouse workers and truck drivers are threatening to strike tonight at the Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. distribution plant in Las Vegas.

A strike had been narrowly averted Sunday after leaders of the Teamsters Union negotiated a 48-hour extension of their contract.

About 130 workers are set to strike at midnight tonight at the North Mojave Road plant following a breakdown in contract negotiations with Coca-Cola Enterprises, Gary Mauger, secretary-treasurer and chief executive of Teamsters Local 14, said. The group's contract expired on March 7 and members have been working on contract extensions ever since.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. of Atlanta says it sells about 80 percent of the Coca-Cola Co.'s bottle and can volume in North America and is a key Coca-Cola Co. licensee in foreign markets.

Mauger said the main dispute between the company and the union is over health benefits. He said the company wants the workers to pay 25 percent of the premium for the benefits. He declined to specify what the workers pay now, but he said the workers are willing to pay more for health benefits.

"Right now ... with today's standards, they're paying less than they should be, that's why we don't mind paying our fair share," Mauger said.

Bob Phillips, vice president of public affairs at Coca-Cola Enterprises, could not be reached for comment.

"We're still holding out optimism that well get some kind of agreement but it sure as hell doesn't look like it," Mauger said.

He also said the company is insisting on a five-year contract, while workers want to have a three-year contract.

He said workers voted 2-1 to reject what he called the company's last, best and final offer on Sunday, and 2-1 in favor of a strike. He declined to give a more specific percentage for the votes.

He said leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters asked the local to agree to a contract extension, set to end tonight.

Mauger said leaders of the International are working with the company to resolve a national dispute over the company's demand that Teamsters locals be barred from joining other locals and other unions in strikes.

He said the contract for Coca-Cola workers at Teamsters Local 683 in San Diego has also expired, but that workers there are working on a three-week contract extension. He said if Local 14's issues aren't resolved by tonight, the union would team up with several California bottling plants and strike. He said such strikes could cripple the company's West Coast distribution operations.