DANA EMPLOYEES TO VOTE ON UNION REPRESENTATION

Dana Corp. employees at the Cape Girardeau plant will vote Sept. 23 and 24 on whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers.

The plant, which opened in 1989, produces axle components. It employs about 350 people.

UAW officials have been talking with Dana employees over the past few months, discussing the possibility of organizing a union. The secret-ballot election will be conducted by the UAW.

Fifty percent of employees plus one vote will be required for a union victory.

Under federal regulations UAW organizers had to gain the support of 30 percent of the plant's employees to arrange for a vote.

"We're working four shifts," said Dave Blanchard, Dana's plant manager. "The vote will be conducted over a two-day period."

The Cape Girardeau plant is among 129 Dana plants in the U.S.: 94 manufacturing plants and 35 warehouse operations. A Dana spokesman in the company's Toledo, Ohio, headquarters said 22 are union shops.

Most of the plants have UAW representation, although 10 unions are involved in operations throughout the company. At one time there were more union plants, but over the past decade 24 union plants have closed.

Dana, which usually limits its manufacturing facilities to 300 to 500 employees, has opened and closed a number of plants over the past 15 years mostly because of marketing needs.

Since 1980, a total of 37 plants have closed. Of these, 13 were non-union plants.

Dana will be the fifth company to hold a union vote in Cape Girardeau County this year.

Workers at The Ceramo Co. in Jackson rejected union representation in a January vote; M&W Packaging, north of Cape Girardeau, defeated union representation in March; the Cape Girardeau Community Counseling Center voted against a union in June; and TCI Cablevision voted against representation by the Communication Workers of America last month.

Dana opened the doors to its $23 million, 140-000-square-foot plant on Southern Expressway with 60 workers.

Today, Dana is listed among the top 25 industries in the Southeast Missouri area. Dana was recognized as the 1993 Industry of the Year by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Dana has developed a lineup of products and services worldwide. These include drive-train systems, engine parts, chassis products, industrial power transmission products, fluid power systems, parts distribution and service and financial.