Union Vote Could Decide Fate Of Stillwater's Mercury Marine

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- The economic fate of a Payne County community lies in the hands of union workers who vote Sunday in Wisconsin. 

Hundreds of jobs could either be leaving or coming to the Mercury Marine plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma. 

If members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 1947 approve concessions, 200 jobs in Stillwater would move to the Mercury Marine plant in Wisconsin.  But if the vote swings the other way, 850 jobs will move to our state. 

"We're trying to put in place a cost restructure for Mercury that allows the company to really have viability long term, to be profitable, to invest in the business, to provide job security," said Mark Schwabero, Mercury Marine President. 

Union members who are being asked to accept reductions in health care and pensions feel otherwise. 

The union will vote on the deal this weekend.