SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Workers at the Okonite Company's Santa Maria plant have been on strike since the wire and cable manufacturer cancelled health insurance for its employees earlier this month.
According to a letter from attorneys representing employees at the plant, the Okonite Company unilaterally cancelled health insurance coverage for all 160 workers at the plant after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired.
The company has until the end of business Tuesday, May 27, 2025, to reinstate health insurance coverage before Local 986 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters plans to file for a temporary restraining order seeking to reinstate health coverage for all bargaining unit employees at the plant.
The letter, dated May 23 of this year, noted that the Okonite Company still deducted health insurance co-premiums from employees' wages for the last two weeks of May despite several employees attempting to use their health insurance for scheduled appointments only to find out their insurance had been cancelled.
Your News Channel covered when workers first hit the picket line in response to the decision on May 20, 2025.
The Okonite Company was founded in 1878, making it the oldest independent wire and cable manufacturer in the nation. Cables manufactured by the company were used in the nation's first generating station.
Since 1976, the company has operated under an Employee Stock Ownership Trust form of ownership and has manufacturing facilities in six plants across the United States.
The Santa Maria plant is a 50-acre site that has 186 total employees shared the Okonite Company on its website.
The Okonite Company's Santa Maria Plant in 2023. Image courtesy of The Okonite Company website.That long-term facilitation of the country's wire and cable needs is something Teamster Regional Leader Christian Castro mentioned when defending the skillset of workers under the collective bargaining agreement and their desire to return to work if their conditions are met.
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 explicitly prohibits unilateral changes to health insurance benefits without prior bargaining with a labor union.
Even if the company had waited until June 1 to cancel health insurance for its employees, it would still be an unlawful termination argued the May 23 letter.
In response to the cancellation, workers at the Santa Maria plant went on strike the following day and their legal representatives and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 986 filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the Okonite Company on May 21, 2025.
Congress created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to investigate charges filed with the organization, facilitate settlements between employers and employees, and ultimately decide labor claims.
The Board requires three members to conduct most actions, but after President Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox from the independent labor agency board, membership was reduced to two members.
Even without enough members to conduct business -also known as a quorum- the National Relations Act allows for the organization to continue delegated, "all representation cases may continue to be processed and the appropriate certification should be issued by the Regional Director notwithstanding the pendency of a request for review, subject to revision or revocation by the Board pursuant to a request for review filed in accordance with this subpart.
The Trump Administration argued that the leadership structure of the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional because it does not allow the removal of members at the discretion of the sitting president.
Wilcox is the first board member to be terminated since the creation of the organization and was appointed to the position during the Biden Administration for a five-year term set to expire in 2028.
On Jan. 27 of this year, Wilcox sued the Trump Administration alleging that removal did not meet the statutory requirements set forth in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found that the President did not have the legal authority to remove Wilcox from her seat on March 6 and ordered her reinstatement writing, "An American president is not a king — not even an ‘elected’ one — and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute."
District Judge Howell noted at the time that the Supreme Court could still decide to overturn the 90 years of existing case law supporting her decision calling the ruling a, "speed bump" for a case clearly destined for the highest court in the land.
The Trump Administration filed an emergency motion seeking a stay pending an appeal of the court's decision and on May 22, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to reinstate Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board on a 6-3 decision with the majority stating, "the Government faces greater risk of harm from an order allowing a removed officer to continue exercising the executive power than a wrongfully removed officer faces from being unable to perform her statutory duty."
Your News Channel reached out to The Okonite Company headquarters in Ramsey, New Jersey and their response will be added to this article when it becomes available.
Workers at Okonite’s Santa Maria plant remain on strike and await reinstatement of health coverage News Channel 3-12.
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