ROCKFORD -- Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 600-A have voted to end their strike at a Wolverine Worldwide tannery in Rockford after a vote on Wednesday. The strike began on July 17, 2003, when union members rejected Wolverine's offer, claiming that it left open the possibility of Wolverine shifting production overseas and capped pension payments.

The strike came to an end when UFCW Local 600-A voted to accept Wolverine Worldwide's offer from the summer. This offer was rejected by union members in the summer and has been the subject of harsh criticism during the strike. The contract that was agreed to on Wednesday does not guarantee that production remain in Rockford and caps pension payments at 30 years of employment. Most importantly, there is no guarantee that the striking workers will be able to return to work.

Throughout the strike, Wolverine Worldwide took a hard line approach, refusing to negotiate with the union after members when on strike. Wolverine appears to be continuing this approach, as they are keeping 100 replacement workers who were hired to fill the positions vacated by the strike and is publicly stating that few of the workers will get their jobs back.

According to an article in Thursday's Grand Rapids Press, there are questions about the manner in which the vote to end the strike was conducted. Apparently, only half of the members were at the meeting where union leaders called a vote on endorsing the contract. Moreover, the meeting was intended to focus on organizing a boycott against Wolverine and a vote was not on the agenda.