(Photo: Daniel Mears, The Detroit News)
Seven groundskeepers and mechanics who are members of the Teamsters Union have accused the club of failing to negotiate pay, health-care and job-security issues in good faith. Pickets may also appear during the tournament from June 27-30, which represents the return of a regular PGA Tour stop to Detroit after it lost The Buick Open 10 years ago. The club says the workers are among the highest paid in the state and that a “more than fair” offer has been made for further increases.
Some workers at the Detroit Golf Club have threatened to hold a strike when the club hosts the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament from June 27-30, The Detroit News reported.
Seven groundskeepers and mechanics at the club, who have been working without a contract for a year, accused Detroit GC of failing to negotiate in good faith, The News reported. Their union, Teamsters Local 299, said the two sides are haggling over pay, health care and job security.
“The way the club has treated these workers is nothing short of shameful,” Kevin Moore, the union’s local President, told The News. “This ends now.”
Detroit GC defended its compensation offers, and accused the union of using the looming golf tournament as leverage in negotiations, The News reported.
“The Teamsters have chosen this magnificent event to score political points for their bosses in Washington,” said Andy Glassberg, the club’s President.
Both sides blamed the other for a breakdown in negotiations, The News reported. The union said Glassberg walked out of negotiations on June 14, while Glassberg said the union had cancelled bargaining sessions.
The union said it is seeking an annual pay raise of 3%, or 45 cents an hour, for the workers, The News reported. It also wants more help with health-care costs and contract language that protects the workers’ jobs.
Glassberg said the workers were offered wages and benefits that were 4% higher a year, totaling 17% over the life of the contract, The News reported.
The union said the once-struggling club froze pay in 2009 and cut compensation by $3.50 per hour in 2015, and also increased health care costs by $600 a month by switching health plans, according to Moore.
Now that the club is doing better financially, Moore told The News, it’s time to “take care of the workers that got them to this point,” said Moore.
But Glassberg said the workers are well-off compared to their counterparts at other golf clubs, The News reported, with pay that’s among the highest in the state. It’s also rare for club workers to have health-care benefits, he noted.
And despite the club’s past economic troubles, Glassberg added, the workers’ pay has been raised over the last 10 years.
“We believe our offer is more than fair,” Glassberg said. “We are ready to reach a resolution.”
The PGA Tour and Quicken Loans, the organizer and sponsor of the golf tournament, declined to comment, The News reported.
Besides possibly striking, the union, which represents 4,000 workers from several industries, may have up to 100 people picketing at the tournament, The News reported. “Glassberg seems intent on forcing a showdown in Motown,” said Moore.
The possible labor disruption has put a damper on the club and city’s enthusiasm over having the tournament, which represents the return of a regular professional tour stop back to the Detroit area after it lost the longstanding Buick Open 10 years ago, at a time when the city’s automotive-dominated economy was suffering a major slump.
While Oakland Hills Country Club in the suburbs has hosted numerous major tournaments, getting the Rocket Mortgage Classic to come to Detroit GC as a new event (replacing the former Quicken Loans National) represents the first PGA Tour stop ever to be held within the city limits (The Buick Open was held at various suburban venues).
The tournament will put the 120-year-old Detroit GC’s Albert Kahn-designed clubhouse and Donald Ross-designed golf course in a rarified spotlight. Tournament organizers have been reporting strong interest and an expectation of about 100,000 spectators for the four tournament rounds, even without Tiger Woods in the field. That’s not surprising, given that Michigan has more public golf courses, with a total that still exceeds 500, than any other state in the country.
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