Workers at Warren Fabricating win back jobs, company signs settlement

On Sept. 24 and 25, four workers employed by Industrial Labor at Warren Fabricating in Hubbard, Ohio, were laid off after talking to their co-workers about forming a union. The National Labor Relations Board was set to go to trial on Oct. 6 when Industrial Labor owner Richard Melanson negotiated the workers’ return with the Ironworkers Union.

Brian Poindexter, Joe Olsen, Mike Stoner, and Jeff Cech met with a representative from the Ironworkers after some health and safety concerns were brought up and management did not respond to their concerns. Within a week of the meeting, all four were told they were being laid off because of slow work, despite a larger-than-average backorder, overtime hours, and forced shift changes for the remaining employees to accommodate the layoffs.

On Oct. 6, Regina Rebhan, president and CEO of Warren Fabricating, and Rich Melanson, president of Industrial Labor, Warren Fabricating's in-house staffing agency, reached a settlement with the Ironworkers Union on behalf of the workers. The settlement states that neither Warren Fabricating nor Industrial Labor will interfere with the workers' rights to form a union.