Judge keeps injunction intact in Kohler strike

A Sheboygan judge ruled Wednesday that an injunction barring picketers from interfering with traffic near Kohler Co. property will remain in place indefinitely.

The ruling comes after lawyers for both the company and the United Auto Workers Local 833 appeared before Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge James Bolgert and said both sides are in agreement on leaving the restrictions in place.

The injunction bars demonstrators from interfering with traffic on public roads and with vehicles entering or leaving Kohler Co. property. It also restricts picketers from seizing and occupying Kohler property, including driveways.

Picketers who violate the order could be arrested and charged.

Bolgert issued the order at the request of Kohler Co. officials Nov. 17, a day after protesters were accused of bringing traffic around company headquarters to a standstill and, in some cases, harassing people trying to access company property.

The union has been on strike since Nov. 15 after rejecting what the company said was its final offer.

Union leaders are seeking to eliminate a two-tiered wage structure they feel has created significant pay disparities among employees performing similar work.

The union agreed to the system in 2010 during the recession but says it should be phased out now that the company’s fortunes have improved.

David Kohler, the company’s president and CEO, has warned that without the two-tier system, local manufacturing jobs will likely disappear as the company’s local manufacturing operation is its most costly among 13 in the U.S. and 48 around the world.

Currently, the company’s Sheboygan County manufacturing workforce accounts for 6 percent of the company’s global workforce of 33,000 people.

“It is economic reality,” Kohler said in a column submitted to the Sheboygan Press this week.

The UAW Local 833 represents about 2,100 employees working at the company's factories in the Town of Mosel and Village of Kohler, which produce plumbing fixtures, engines and power generation systems. The company employs more than 5,000 people in Sheboygan County.

Reach Josh Lintereur at 920-453-5147,jlintereur@sheboyganpress.com or @joshlintereur on Twitter.