Howell Company

              ST. CHARLES,	u u• 
owell 
may close 
city plant 
By Alan Anspaugh 
What many have feared for years soon may happen: 
The Howell Co. in St. Charles may close. 
Howell General Manager Arnold Hoenke told 
workers Monday the company "wants to discuss 
discontinuing operations in St. Charles." 
Hoenke said "economic conditions" have caused 
the firm to decide "in the near future" whether to 
continue plant operations. If the company closes, 
about 150 office and factory workers will be left 
without jobs. 
A strike by factory workers has continued since Oct, 
16, when the firm's contract with the International 
Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers expired. 
Negotiators have met at least twice, but both sides 
reportedly are "miles apart" on an agreement. 
The 120-year-old company manufactures kitchen 
furniture and other items. Rumors of its demise 
began in 1975, when Interlake Inc. employed more 
than 300 workers at the plant. 
The company was sold to William Burd, president of 
Burd Inc., who reportedly owns at least four plants in 
other states. 
Burd was attending the Dallas Furniture Market 
this week and could not be reached for comment. 
Hoenke declined to say what has caused the firm's 
reported financial trouble, but he said some contracts 
have been lost, "may primarily because of the 
strike." 
"We were having a difficult time prior to the strike, 
and the strike aggravated the situation," he said. 
Union representative George Eigenhauser 
downplayed the strike's role in the company's ap- 
parent closing. 
"If they (Howell officials) want to continue in St. 
Charles, all they have to do is make a decent offer and 
I'll take it to the people for a vote," Eigenhauser said. 
"We bailed them out the last two times (the firm 
settled contracts) , but we won't take another substan- 
dard increase," he said. 
Eigenhauser said Howell officials could have 
avoided the present strike if they had acted before it 
began. 
"Management was notified when the people turned 
down the contract (in mid-October) . They were told 
that the union was available to meet with them before 
the strike began," he said. 
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(Continued from page 1) 
The first negotiating session occurred Oct. 22, and 
the last meeting was Dec. 13. Both proved fruitless. 
Hoenke declined to say what contracts the firm lost 
recently, but a major deal. with Montgomery Ward 
reportedly fell through during the first week of the 
strike. 
Eigenhauser said workers will continue to picket the 
South First Street plant until it closes or a settlement 
is reached. 
1	The more than 80 factory workers receive a union  
1 strike paycheck equal to about a third of their normal  
1 checks, but they are not eligible to collect unemploy- 
meat compensation "because it is a labor dispute," he 
said. 
Workers will be able to collect unemployment 
checks if the company folds. 
Howell was founded in 1860 in Geneva and made the 
transition from cast-iron implements to metal fur- 
niture in 1923. The company pioneered tubular steel in 
1929, and its innovations were recognized during the 
Chicago and New York World's-Fairs during tyhe 
1930s. 
Howell moved to St. Charles in 1937, needing room 
for expansion despite the Depression. Its current 
building was occupied by the Cable Piano Co., then the 
world's largest manufacturer of pianos arid organs. 
During World W ar II, its production of shell casings, 
mess trays, airplane wings and fuselages earned 
Howell the Navy "E" award. 
Area residents have long considered the company a 
"permanent fixture" on the Fox Valley's business 
horizon. 
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