At the end of a tough round of negotiations that included membership rejection in October of an earlier company offer, UE Local 1137 members have approved a new two-year agreement with Ferro Pfanstiehl, a pharmaceutical manufacturer. The new contract includes hourly raises of 45 cents each, and brings three workers who were below the standard wage rates up to rate. This was only the second contract for the Ferro workers, who organized in May 2008, so eliminating below-rate wages was a bit of unfinished business left over from the first contract.
Members backed the union bargaining committee's recommendation to reject the company's first "final offer" because it did not provide fair raises to several of the members who are above the standard rates. In the final agreement everyone gets the 45 cent annual raises.
The biggest portion of the time at the bargaining table was taken up with a fight to maintain the workers' sick days. The union won that fight. There was also improvement in contract language regarding scheduled and floating holidays, which is complicated by the fact that most of the workforce is on continuous operations with 12-hour shifts.
On health insurance, UE members are covered by the same plan as management and they pay 21 percent of the premium. But the union negotiated a cap on employee contribution increases, which cannot go up by more than 12 percent of the dollar amount they are now. The contract also increases the company's annual allowance for safety shoes and safety glasses from $125 to $150 for each.
"Workers voted down the first one, approved the second one, because of issue with the pay rates," saysl Local President Don Revis. "The second offer was better for the guys who were over rate."
Workers assisted the bargaining committee with showings of solidarity including parking lot rallies, both before and after the rejection vote. The union in the process of obtaining burn barrels for the possibility of a more serious showdown, when the final settlement was reached. Members also showed their support for the union's bargaining goals in the plant. "One department in particular was backing us up pretty good," says Revis.
This was the first bargaining experience for Chief Steward Bryan Haines. "I liked it, I learned a lot, but it got exhausting at times."
In addition to Revis and Haines, the union bargaining committee included Carmine Ziccarelli. They were assisted by UE Field Organizer Lynn Swiertz.