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Union Workers Protest 'Unfair Labor Practices' at Boch

Boch Honda technicians and other union members rallied in front of the dealership Sunday afternoon.

 

Union workers rallied Sunday afternoon outside of Boch Honda on Route 1 in Norwood to protest alleged unfair labor practices at the company.

This isn't the first demonstration held against Boch, though it is the first at the Norwood dealership, and according to union representatives it may not be the last.

On Nov. 18, 2010, the technicians at Boch Honda in Norwood voted to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO (the Machinists Union).

"Since that time, management has done everything they can to undermine the efforts of these workers to get a first contract," said Mike Vartabedian, Business Representative for the union.

The only results after 25-30 negotiations with the company, Vartabedian said, have been, "ridiculous agreements." The union workers believe the company is intentionally stalling, and Sunday's demonstration was a show of support for the local members.

"We were not there to try to create a scene," Vartabedian said. "We just want the public to know what's going on."

The union has filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of about 25 technicians.

“It’s an ongoing fight,” Vartabedian said.

A representative from the office of Congressman Stephen Lynch also came to the Norwood demonstration to hear the union concerns.

"We recently learned of the dispute between the Machinists and the Boch Company," said a statement from the Congressman's office. "Dan Lynch attended the rally on behalf of Congressman Stephen Lynch to hear the concerns of the workers and show support for the Boch technicians who voted to join the Machinists Union. Ideally, the Congressman would hope that the parties can reach an agreement."

Though an agreement is what the workers are waiting for, Vartabedian said that if the current labor practices continue, this will not be the last protest.

“I’m sure that if this continues we’ll have more demonstrations,” he said.

Related Topics: boch honda, boch protest, and ernie boch

Mark Delaney

1:50 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

All the hard working union member who brought you your 40hr work week, paid sick & vacation time, health benefits,the weekend,etc... we care! Those guys deserve to be respected and they deserve a contract! Get it done Ernie!

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Matt

3:58 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Unfortunately unions are not run like they use to and for the purpose they were once formed for. Now they reward mediocrity and sometimes hold the rest of us hostage. Never mind the fact the money you pay goes to the democratiic party. Forgive me if i do not get warm and fuzzy

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Ben

7:53 am on Thursday, February 23, 2012

you can get 40 hrs a week, paid vacation and sick time without paying a third party, unions make it hard for companies to get rid of lazy and unproductive people. I agree with matt 100%

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Joe blow

1:25 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012

Its funny how the media takes the unions side in all of this. Boch is a great organization that does everything it can to keep its employees happy. Boch also has a top notch health plan, great benefits and 401k, and also profit sharing ran by the company. Boch's technicians also work a three or four day work week that has them working roughly 180 days a year. All these things add up to a pretty good place to work, ran by good people who dont deserve this negative attention. There are always two sides to a story and unfortunetly this article only shows one of them.

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tom ward

2:47 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012

theirs no profit sharing he stopped that back in october of 2010. if ernie cared about his employes then he would show up the negotiations. it's kinda funny that he can't even take the time to show up to at least one, that just proves he doesn't care about the people that work for him.

Ben

2:04 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012

I wish I had a schedule like that, id have to find new hobbies to pass my time with. They must make good money in service too, isnt that the number 1 honda dealer ?

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Joe Blow?

10:34 am on Friday, February 24, 2012

Joe Blows statement sounds like a prepared statement from the company to control the damage! Hmmm I wonder!

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Joe Blow?

10:40 am on Friday, February 24, 2012

Ben- are you an employee/coworker of Joe Blow?

Don't be fooled people!

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WOW

12:04 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Fooled? All i know is that people make 80-100 flat rate hours in 4 days, those are true facts, got pay stubs to prove it, once again lazy and unproductive people who want to watch movies and dont want to work sundays was the cause of this rally. Care to prove Joe blow wrong ? And for the record only 3 actual honda techs were at the rally, hmm i wonder why the other 20 didnt show up..

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tom ward

2:51 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012

actually there was a lot more around includding a few sapossed company sapporters. even ernies lawer was out their waveing to passing by motorists that were beeping in saport of the unio workers.

joe blow the 2nd

1:05 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

This is all b.s. ive worked at a few dealerships and let me tell you its a great place to work for profit sharing 401k the schedule is awesome and profit sharing i worked for the goverment and didnt have that.. im bothereed by all this i have a family kids wife and i gota deal with this stress knowing place i work for is being troubled with all this..i guess union is good to protect people who dont hustle work hard take 100 breaks a day those people need protection bottom line is boch is great place to work for those people need get a life and find sutin better to do.. unions wack they just wont ur cash u work hard for well most of us neway.. its so rediculous eat sleep drink union dorks!!!

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tom ward

2:43 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012

if it's such a great place to work then why did ernie stop the profit sharing programmed with out informing his employes. all he is is a spoiled brat. it's time for him to respect the people that work for him

johnQ

2:34 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Hey joe blow?..... it looks like you are wrong. These arnt comments from the management. They look like comments made by the employees that were bought by the company.

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janedoe

3:40 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Pro company = reward the greedy and praise the corrupt.

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Hard work rewards

4:09 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Seems to me pro union people gettinh a little touched by people trying to express their feelings, if unions lash out at people that are for the company how does that make them any better than the employer ? I thought you guys supposed to represent employees, not only the people that are pro union!

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janedoe

5:02 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

No one faults a pro company employee when it is their natural feelings. However pro company employees who are bought and paid for or are threatened into fealing a certain way, taint the process. To my knowledge I have never heard of unions buying votes.

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Joe Blow?

5:08 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

That is truely funny "hard work rewards". Look at you trying to make an intelligent comment after such an ignorant comment like " union = protect the weak". The fact is that the union will protect all the workers pro or anti union. The anti union people will never truely appreciate the good that the union does, but will reap the benefits of a collective bargaining aggrement. I hope everyone who reads this will educate themselves and form their own opinion. A good place to look is the department of labor website or history books. In closing, I hope you enjoy your hard earned weekend! Oh and by the way, Your Welcome. I am sure your hard work created the weekend that you enjoy.

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janedoe

5:09 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Hey Hard Work Rewards....why is it ok for your guys to call union representatives lazy and weak, but when they are called greedy and corrupt you get emotional.

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Hard work rewards

5:54 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

i love my weekends wether at work or off.. But at the end of the year we only work 180 days a year, dont like working weekends go elsewhere

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Unions suck

6:23 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

I love my job, full benefits, paid vaca, 180 days of work.. And best part NON-UNION, nice article thou.. Thumbs up!

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johnQ

6:29 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

With a comment like that, there is no response needed. You made yourself look like a fool. Didn't seem hard either.

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Unions suck

6:43 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

I was refering to her writing skills johnq!

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johnQ

7:02 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

That comment was mostly for Hard Work Rewards but you fit the bill also.

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joe blow the 2nd

7:32 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012

Its so sickening i neva felt so bothered to go to work and union people always tryin to hurt my employment my life and family cuz if union wasnt here id be a million times happier Boch is awesome and i hope he fights forever which he should sry ernie boch theese guys tottaly slap boch honda and organization awesome place to work... Neva made the money i make kno cant wait until union is gone to laugh at union there gona runout of money before ernie go boch

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tom ward

1:56 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012

it's the company supporters that make it misserable to go to work. most of u are running to management and trying to rat on the union guys for better work and better pay. open your eyes the company has been charged with 25 counts of mistreating there employes, and at least another 20 pending wright now. they have fired a family man after working for them 10 years that is supporting two kids on his ownfor no reason. when they let him go he asked for a reason they said they didn't have to give him a reason. he was a gold master honda sales man for 8 plus years, which means he's one of the best.

Union? No way!

4:00 pm on Saturday, February 25, 2012

Ive been in the car business for 10 years, unions are just as corrupt as the companies thst they try to run. They only take care of pro union people, once they take over a place they try to find any small reason to terminate anti union employes, just for being that. Id rather burn my money than pay union dues and look over my shoulder for union rats in the shop!

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Union? Always!

7:02 am on Sunday, February 26, 2012

Some of these anti - union comments bother me so much that I could not stay silent!
This is what is wrong with America! People with no real experiance with unions eating up company propaganda!
Union? No Way!- that is the most ridiculous comment/reason to hate a union. You said that you have 10 years experiance in the car business, but I am sure not as a union member! For the people reading this just think. Unions do not terminate anyone! You still work for the company! A union can never cause, suggest or influence a company to terminate anyone! To add to that a company would never alow a union to fire whoever they want! Please do not be so gullible!
I have been in a union for 24 years! It was the best place to work because of the union! The union protects all of the workers! One last thing I would like to say before going silent once again, it is not pro union or pro company you can be both! Just because you want a union does not mean you do not want the company to do great! In fact it is in the unions best interest for the company to be sucssesfull! Wake up!

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reality

7:33 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I am also a tech at this dealer. Working at this dealer for under a year, and I have never felt so pressured. I a constantly told that if I talk to certain peoples this place will make it harder for me to make money. I have also been told that in the end the union supporters will lose their jobs. This company has been working hard to make a clear division between non and pro union supporters. Most of us are afraid to openly support the union in fear of company retribution. I would also like to say that we can see between the lines. I have heard that there are over 20 unfair labor practice charges already filed. To most of us this tells the true story of how this company views peoples rights in the workplace. Keep it up machinists we like what we see..

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Steve

10:58 pm on Friday, March 2, 2012

Suck it up you work less than teachers do in a year!

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