Latest News - October 2011

October 21, 2011
UAW Ends Strike at Conn-Selmer's Ohio Plant
Source: PR Newswire
By: Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc.

Conn-Selmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. (NYSE: LVB), announced today that employees with Local 2359 of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have ended their strike at the Eastlake, Ohio manufacturing facility, which began July 26, 2011. The UAW represents approximately 230 employees at the Eastlake brass instrument facility. In its notification to the Company, the UAW also made an "unconditional offer to return to work" on behalf of all of the striking employees and directed all such striking employees to report for work immediately.

John Stoner, President of Conn-Selmer explained, "The Company has been negotiating in good faith with representatives of the UAW since January. We are encouraged by the decision to end the strike and return to work. We hope the UAW will present the Company's last position to employees for approval and that the employees vote to ratify that offer."

Stoner continued, "To service our customers during the strike, the Eastlake facility continued production operations. This was possible through the efforts of many employees who abandoned the strike and returned to work. In addition, to supplement these employees, the Company also hired approximately 100 new employees as permanent replacements over the past few months. We truly wish that the parties had been able to agree on a new contract without a work stoppage. But, when the work stoppage occurred, we took the actions we felt would allow us to continue satisfying our customers during the critical back-to-school season. We appreciate everyone's continued support and cooperation."