Michael Quinlan ’14
A number of the factory workers at Davis Vision, a local subsidiary of the national eyewear manufacturing company HVHC Inc. (a Highmark Inc. company), were on strike outside the Newtown Square plant along Route 252 from January to late February. The workers were protesting changed labor requirements and decreases in wages. The strike, authorized by CWA Local 81408, the local optics union representing more than 100 workers at Davis Vision, followed a reported new labor contract. The union, representing the 80 Davis Vision employees on strike, narrowed the issues with the new labor contract “down to money.” The situation was described by one anonymous striking employee as a fight against HVHC Inc, which was said to be a “monopoly,” as they “[bought] up smaller companies.” The employee went on to describe “unfair” labor practices: the required number of eyeglasses produced per day continually increased from 60 to 80; the money paid to workers for each pair of glasses produced after hours was decreased; additionally, mandatory Saturdays, which “used to occur about once a month” now occur “two or three Saturdays per month,” and were cited as a cause for protest. Other eyewear production plants such as HVHC Inc.’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania site reached an agreement between the two parties before the Newtown Square branch. Another anonymous striker outside Davis Vision expressed the need to “simply be met halfway.” However, until such an agreement is met, both protesters said they would “stay until the end.” Optimism among the protesters, however, was described as fleeting due to a lack of media attention accompanying the strike. While calls were made to local news stations including 6 ABC and NBC 10, the story was not deemed popular enough to be mentioned on television. No Episcopal student when asked about the strike, being described as “a protest along Route 252,” was able to correctly identify who was striking or what specific issues they were protesting. Davis Vision has released subsequent statements expressing hope that “union leadership will revisit and accept the key elements of the proposed contract … to maintain a strong and growing business presence in southeastern Pennsylvania.” As the strike at Davis Vision continued, production of glasses was temporarily moved to Texas and Long Island plants. The proposed three year contract was ultimately accepted by both parties and 115 workers have returned to their jobs. John Kay, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Distribution at Davis Vision, said that the contract focused on “increasing the weight of the ‘quality’ component of our daily incentive goals at the lab.” To respond to the wishes of the protestors, the contract will “more appropriately align the interests of our workforce with quality customer service.”