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Leaders of the IAM Midwest Territory recently visited one of the longest-standing union shops in the IAM Union to meet with members and company management before upcoming negotiations.
A. Finkl and Sons Steel Company was founded in 1879, in the aftermath of the great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed 3 square miles of the city. Today, the worldwide company is named Finkl Steel, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of steel dies and tools that make numerous things we take for granted: anything from oil field equipment to molds for automobile manufacturing to the famed 155mm Army Howitzer canon.
Finkl management remarked that many of the Howitzers sent to Ukraine since the war erupted in 2022 have resulted in new orders for the company’s Howitzer barrels and sustained work for the IAM members.
Documents show the workers organized with the IAM on May 1, 1903, after previous representation with the Chicago Metal Trades Association.
“My dad started here in 1955. My Brother started here just before I did,” said current IAM Local 701 member and Finkl employee Tom Buzecky.
He has worked at the company for nearly 50 years, starting in August 1977.
“I work with a whole group that has family members employed here at the company,” said Buzecky.
Buzecky recalls the 1984 strike, which lasted nearly four months.
“The only way to get what you want is to stay together,” said Buzecky. “We were solid, and that helped make our point.”
“Our IAM sisters and brothers working at Finkl Steel are truly remarkable representing an honorable example of their solidarity,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “They have built and earned the respect of this company’s management over several decades, and we plan to continue that partnership for our members’ benefit for years to come.”
“Finkl management has talked with us about their need for more workers, and Local 701 has a great apprenticeship program already running on all cylinders,” said IAM Midwest Territory Coordinator Bill LePinske. “So it’s great to partner with a company and fulfill their needs for a highly skilled workforce.”
One of Finkl Steel’s largest customers is Caterpillar, a maker of many large industrial machines. IAM members build the molds, tools, and dies that make many more jobs run. These workers know that their work is crucial to so many other workers, and they understand that union solidarity needs to be as strong as steel to maintain their long history of providing solid wages and benefits.
Generations of families, like the Buzecky family, have thrived through employment at Finkl Steel, and with some mutual respect and solidarity, their next negotiations will keep those families secure for generations to come.
