RemArms Reopens Ilion Plant

The former Remington plant in Ilion, New York has finally reopened under the Roundhill Group’s ownership. It opened last week with 45 workers plus management.

From the Herkimer Times Telegram:

“We have called back approximately 45 employees as of this week that along with the 20 management people that have been back for several weeks now,” Richmond Italia, a managing partner for the Roundhill Group Inc., owner of RemArms, the plant’s new operator, said in an email. “And we expect to round that number off to over 200 before the end of the month.” 

It appears that the sticking point to the plant reopening was the contract with United Mine Workers Local 717. Most of the plant’s workers are members of that Local. It will formalize the recall process of furloughed workers and sets a 60-day window for starting negotiations on a new collective bargaining contract.

UMWA International President Cecil Roberts had this to say:

“This letter of agreement was a long time in the making,” said UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. “It is the first step toward re-establishing a normal relationship between the union and the operators of that plant, one that will allow the professional craftspeople who have built firearms in Ilion to return to doing what they do better than anyone.” 

He added: “There is more to do here. The company needs product to sell, and we fully understand and support that. We are pleased that UMWA members will soon be going back to work at the plant, if the company holds to its expected timetable. The next step is to negotiate a full collective bargaining agreement that the members can ratify and then get operations fully back to normal.”

As I reported earlier, the initial product coming from the plant will be the 870 line of shotguns.

The negotiations with the union delayed reopening by approximately a month. The initial restart was to have begun in early March and actually didn’t begin until April.