SK Hand Tools hit by strike in Defiance

my kids and i are insured work at sk and are very happy .......thanks but your all a bunch of morons. this day and times you cant afford not to work .plus its getting cold out its nice and warm in side.have a nice holiday..........

The KD and Allen lines have been officially discontinued starting January 2010. The only replacement Danaher Tool Group will have to offer is GearWrench and Armstrong. Gearwrench is not a professional tool and is made in China. Armstrong is not focused on the automotive market and is priced too high. SK is the only professional automotive tool for independants; if SK disappears then the independant jobber business slowly dies as well.

SK Strikers Need Community Support
The strike at SK Hand Tools is going strong and the workers are standing their ground until justice prevails and healthcare coverage is restored.
The strikers are holding the line 24/7 at both locations and need people to come out to stand in solidarity and to bring food, coffee, water and soda.
Chicago location: 3535 W. 47th St.
Suburban location: 9500 W. 55th St.(McCook).
"This strike has captured the imagination of people of concience across Chicagoland," said Local 743 president Richard Berg. "The strikers are strengthened by the overwhelming show of solidarity from supporters. We will continue to fight till we get justice," he continued
The above was written on another site. I believe you won't get justice but perhaps unemployment. I completely agree with what the mobile dealer above wrote. Many choices for users to choose and SK isn't necessarily better anymore. Sorry, to tell you but when and if you do get back to work many distributers will have found a new tool line to sell. Hopefully you can solve this and get on with manufacturing because this isn't good for us either. There are years worth of SK tools in the shops and mechanics will be quite unhappy if they can't get warranty. No-one wins here. Dealers may end up buying and giving away another brand to keep customers happy on warranty issues.
Unfortunately for the workers the dealers have another 10 choices of lifetime warranty tools to sell and most often SK isn't better., just American.

I am against strikes at all times.
But this time it directly affects me.
Sk tools are the best that can be, we compete against SnapOn , Matco, and MacTool very easely with our quality and prices.
But since the strike, I'm having a hard time getting my tools and my customers are starting to complain.
And we are starting to see SK Tools that where purposefully built with defects, probably by these people that think you can find a solution on discussions by hurting others and using blackmail to get their way.
Well, I happen to hate blackmail and there is no way I can accept the moves the union is making. It's unjust and completely ignorant.
We keep hearing the Union side of the story, complaints, and baby talk. The owners are in one heck of a mess having to deal with these people.

I just hope they can come to some kind of settlement so we can go on with our lives that these 70 people are trying to run.

RAT wrote:

AFTER READING ALL COMMENTS I NOW UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE ON STRIKE. BUT I NEED SOME TYPE OF INCOME.I AM SORRY.BUT I MAKE GOOD MONEY AT SK. WHAT ABOUT McCOOK,? THEY HAVE CROSSED OVER AND DONT CARE ABOUT LOYALTY.GOD BE WITH ALL OF US THESE DAYS AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!

I AGREE

God, do I get tired of hearing the same tired union whining. If you don't want your job, QUIT! SK Tools, nor any other business, owes their employees more than the weekly paycheck they earn. Fringe benefits, retirement, etc. are extra bonuses not required by labor law. Yes, it sucks if you have health coverage and it is stopped without warning. Any decent organization would meet with employees and describe what's going on. Times are tough all over, for both employees and employers alike. Crap like this is exactly the reason I have chosen to downsize my business and get rid of the constant headaches and whining from outside employees. Let me say, the stress level is WAY down and the money is about the same as before. In the case of SK or other large businesses, union labor can whine all they want and win all the battles, but if and when when the company declares bankruptcy, you're out of a job and war is lost. Get rid of the attitude problems and put out the work you were hired to do; otherwise, move out of the way so others can do it in your place.

Well the strike is over, thank God.
So all the little pricks that spend their lives whining got their way and the rest of us will have to pay for them.
This is called social injustice. The good workers have a conciense and a sense of responsibility and are willing to work for what they are worth and on the other side, the whiners get what they don't deserve just because they have used their uselessness to force others to pay for their lazyness and incompetence.
And the worst part of it is, they will never understand what they are doing for lack of brains.