Resisting a frightening list of company concession proposals, and in the wake of layoffs and the movement of some of the shop’s work to Mexico, UE Local 262 members at Cole Hersee – who manufacture electrical and electronic switches and connectors for the vehicle industry – have negotiated and ratified a new three-year contract.
UE Local 1421 members faced a very tough battle in their latest contract negotiations with chemical manufacturer Stepan, and they did not come out of the fight unscathed. But with more membership involvement than ever, they made some important gains and minimized the damage the company was able to inflict.
Making their situation more difficult was the fact that the California UE Stepan members were the last to negotiate after other unions in the company had already been battered into accepting pension freezes, and the other shops had worse health insurance.
The National Administrative Office (NAO) of Mexico's trade pact enforcement agency has issued an immediate call for answers to questions about progress in granting collective bargaining rights to public sector workers in North Carolina.
Local 1174 President Rich Nordholm didn’t get to the UE Convention until the second day, but the good news he brought with him more than made up for his unavoidable tardiness. He was able to report that his local had, over the previous two days, achieved a successful end to the eight-week lockout by their employer, Quad City Die Casting. "We beat the company on all their issues, and now they’re going to have to deal with us," Nordholm told the convention, thanking all the locals that had sent support.
Local 642 has negotiated modifications to its contract with Harborcreek Youth Services that bring improved pay and union protections to therapists who joined the union in May. The local had earlier negotiated a voluntary recognition agreement by which management accepted the therapists’ desire to join Local 642 in its existing bargaining unit, which had consisted of counselors at HYS, a facilty for at-risk adolescents.
UE Local 697 has reached a new three year agreement with Flex-Y-Plan, which raises wages by four percent the first year, three percent the second, and two percent the third year. The settlement was reached on September 18 and ratified by the members on September 19 – the day the old contract expired.
Disability income benefits are raised from $300 per week to a maximum of $350. Employee laid off two weeks or less before a holiday will now receive holiday pay.
Local 120’s bargaining committee reached a tentative three-year agreement with NGK Locke late on September 28. The next day the members ratified the agreement by a large majority. The new contract brings raises of 8.25 percent: three percent the first year, 2.75 percent the second, and 2.5 percent in the final year.
On September 17, during the UE National Convention, delegates demonstrated against the Bush administration’s "no-match" policy of ordering employers to fire workers when there are discrepencies in their Social Security records. UE members in Chicago have also joined in protests against the Bush rule and have reached out to unorganized workers who have been threatened by their employers under the policy.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007
President John Hovis called the convention back to order at 2:00 p.m. and called on Western Region President Carl Rosen and Local 506 President Frank Fusco, co-conveners of the Constitution Committee. Brother Fusco read the proposed constitutional amendments, all of which were unanimously adopted by the delegates. The amendments will now be referred to each UE local for ratification vote by the rank-and-file members.
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