Workers at cigarette-maker R.J. Reynolds reject unions

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A majority of workers at two R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. plants in North Carolina have narrowly voted to reject union representation, the cigarette manufacturing giant announced Friday.

Production and maintenance workers voted 686 to 556 against accepting collective bargaining representation by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

‘We are very pleased that our employees believe that we can continue to grow our business by working together as a team,’ Tommy L. Hickman, senior vice president for operations, said in a company statement.

A representative of the tobacco workers’ union, based in Kensington, Md., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The preliminary vote results, which must be certified by the National Labor Relations Board, came in a state with the nation’s lowest union representation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 3.2% of workers in North Carolina belong to unions -– versus 24.2% for the most unionized state, New York. California, with 17.5% of its workers in unions, has the largest number of union members at 2.4 million.

An estimated 1,320 workers at R.J. Reynolds’ manufacturing plants in Tobaccoville and Whitaker Park in North Carolina were eligible to vote. R.J. Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., is the country’s second-largest tobacco manufacturer, making Camel, Salem, Winston and other cigarette brands. Workers at the company’s major competitors, such as Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA, are not represented by unions.

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-- David Zucchino in Durham, N.C.