June 14, 2000
Tiffin Casting Products selling out
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
A Tiffin metal castings business whose workers have been locked out since February is to be sold by June 22
Members of the United Auto Workers Local 1644 were locked out of Tiffin Casting Products Inc., 745 S. CR 13, after their contract expired Jan. 31.
GMAC Business Credit of Southfield, Mich., filed a breach of contract suit against Tiffin Casting Products, asking for $2.1 million plus interest.
A journal entry filed June 13 in Seneca County Common Pleas Court states that both sides consented to the settlement.
Tiffin Casting has until June 22 to sell the company, under terms satisfactory to its creditor, GMAC. The journal entry states that two potential buyers have been identified, but does not specify who they are.
Judge Steve Shuff said the potential buyers have not been identified to the court.
If Tiffin Casting Products fails to sell by that time, GMAC can take possession of the business' property.
In the lockout, union officials say negotiations had been ongoing since July 1999, with a total of 21 meetings between the two sides. The union had volunteered to continue working under the old contract before they were locked out. Workers say they did not want to strike and never took a strike vote.
A sticking point is that the wage increase management proposed is not enough to offset increased insurance costs, union officials say. Union members have said the company had a $15 co-payment plan but is proposing a system that has a $500 deductible for a single person and a $1,000 deductible for two parties and families.
Some of the other issues in the dispute include overtime compensation, the loss of some vacation and holidays and insurance benefits