Every CUTCO Cutlery knife, hunting knife and pair of shears is made in America from American components by members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union.
The company, the largest manufacturer of high-quality kitchen cutlery in the United States with sales of about $250 million a year, makes its cutlery, including pieces with CUTCO’s trademarked serrated edge called Double D, in the tiny New York town of Olean.
Last year, CUTCO’s 450-member USW-represented work force produced nearly 7 million cutlery pieces that were shipped directly to 850,000 customers.
Consistent in its commitment to American-made, Cutco makes every effort to buy its raw materials in America. For example, one of its basics, the durable stainless steel used in its blades, is produced at the USW-represented ATI Allegheny Ludlum plant in Louisville, Ohio.
Unlike so many employers who have exported or outsourced work, CUTCO transferred work in house.
CUTCO stopped using outside vendors for three products – shears, wooden block knife holders and injection molded handles. Members of USW Local 5429 produce these now. CUTCO did this to better control quality and production volume.
A tiny number of CUTCO products are made outside the United States, but the overwhelming majority, including its kitchen accessories and cookware are fabricated in the United States with American-made components.
CUTCO was founded as ALCAS Cutlery in 1949 as a joint venture between ALCOA and W.R. Case & Sons, then a leading U.S. cutlery maker.
Production employees have been represented by the USW since 1956. And in 2002, those workers nominated CUTCO for, and it received, the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trade Department Labor-Management Award.
CUTCO provides an unusual “forever guarantee” that covers the purchaser and anyone who might later inherit or purchase the knives. A service center of 26 CUTCO workers cleans, sharpens and refurbishes knives that are mailed to the factory.
To find an authorized independent CUTCO Cutlery sales representative, visit www.CUTCO.com or call 1-800-828-0448.
Posted February 23, 2012 at 2:44 pm, in Union Matters
