Aurora -- Eleven employees who showed up for the Jan. 13 late shift at Rotek Inc., 1400 S. Chillicothe Road, were sent home because of what a company representative called a "miscommunication" with a new security firm.
"All shifts are reporting to duty as normal and all employees have access to the facility as normal," Kellie Harris, a spokesperson for ThyssenKrupp North America, which Rotek is a subsidiary of, said Jan. 14. "Last night there was a miscommunication and some employees were sent home."
The employees who were sent home were compensated according to their individual collective bargaining agreements, Harris said.
She would not elaborate on the "miscommunication," except to say it was the fault of a security firm.
"I think it was just new security," Harris said of the employees being sent home. "And they sent people home when they should not have."
Harris would not name the security firm.
"As a rule, we don't share information about our vendors and contractors," Harris said.
At least one person said employees were locked out and "being turned away by hired security" and that the employee entrance was "completely blocked off."
Harris denied there was any sort of lockout.
"Rotek and members of the United Steelworkers local union 8565 recently concluded negotiations during which the union noted a strike as a potential option," Harris said. "A new contract with United Steelworkers has been implemented and all shifts are currently reporting as normal and have access to the facility as normal."
Rotek Inc., a ThyssenKrupp company and member of the Rothe Erde group, is a manufacturer of machine elements called slewing bearings, according to the company's website. Rotek Inc. employees 300 workers.
Email: ttroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-541-9400 ext. 4183
Comments