RemArms is Bringing Employees Back, But Are They Following Union Rules?

The new owners of Remington Arms announced this week that they are restarting a line of guns at the the Ilion factory and more than 200 workers have been called back to work. But, is RemArms following union protocol and bringing back employees based on seniority?

Former employees of Remington Arms, especially those with seniority, say they are watching younger employees take their jobs, while they sit home and wait for a phone call.  That's what a handful of older former employees told WIBX this week, at a time when the new Remington owners say they're beginning to ramp up production. In an email sent out this week by the new owners, it was revealed that 230 employees have been called back and production on the 870 shotgun is expected to begin soon.

When the Roundhill Group purchased the gun manufacturing portion of Remington in bankruptcy, they made it clear they were not purchasing Remington's old debt. Since then, they claim, they have been negotiating with the United Mine Workers of America to move forward on a collective bargaining agreement. One month ago, the union reported that they had reached an agreement with Roundhill that would recognize the collective bargaining agreement as workers were called back. Still, several employees with seniority say they're sitting at home watching younger employees with less time invested, being chalked back to take the jobs they once were responsible for.

This week Roundhill said in their written statement that they hope to hire back hundreds of workers as they attempt to rebuild the company's profit margin.

Eight years ago, Remington was boasting more than 1,300 employees and growing, until New York's Safe Act was implemented and jobs started to head south. When Remington shut down at the end of last year, they were down to some 700 employees, who were all laid off when the company shut down.