The members of UE Local 115 ratified a new three-year agreement on August 27 after four months of negotiations. Refresco employees bottle beverage products like Gatorade, Bodyarmor, Tropicana, and generic sodas for various supermarket chains. The contract, Local 115’s second with Refresco, includes an average 14 percent wage increase across the life of the agreement, establishes firm limits on mandatory overtime, and lowers penalties for attendance infractions.
Members making less than $24.00 an hour are set to receive general wage increases of 5.5, 4.25, and 4 percent in each year respectively, with all other workers receiving 4, 3.25, and 3 percent increases. The local also won longevity pay increases, an increase to the third shift differentials, and adjustments to lead pay. Some workers are receiving as much as a 12 percent increase in the first year of the contract, 6.7 percent in the second year, and 6.3 percent in the third year.
Local 115 won a limit of three mandatory same-day overtime shifts in a week, a large problem during the life of the first contract. Employees were sometimes being mandated up to five or six days during the high season. The agreement establishes reporting pay and schedule posting procedures. The local also won the right to advance notice of and the right to bargain over permanent schedule changes.
This contract saw a major win on attendance procedures, an issue which was very important for the membership. Attendance infractions for arriving late or leaving early from the overtime portion of the employee’s shift will be halved going forward. An employee will now have to be tardy or leave early during the overtime position twenty-four times in a year before receiving a step one write up. Employees will also be given a ninety-minute grace period to get to work if there are government-imposed travel restrictions, and will be given seven business days to bring in medical documentation before being written up for attendance policy violations.
Overall, almost half of the contract is being changed, with two brand new articles regarding ADA accommodations and immigration leave & rights (read the full summary here). The company entered negotiations saying they did not want to “rewrite” the contract. The local organized t-shirt days and produced union stickers saying “No te metas con nosotros. Unidos para un segundo contrato” (“Don’t tread on me. United for a second contract”). The local began collecting strike pledges when they received the Company’s first economic offer. By the last day of bargaining, over 75 percent of the plant had signed the pledges. Local 115 members also met with representatives of the New York City and New York State pension funds to discuss various issues during bargaining.
Most importantly, the contract has no concessions. The union beat back attempts by the company to increase the notification period for vacation requests and the removal of holiday pay counting towards overtime calculations.
Local 115 was represented in negotiations by President Ivan Rios, Plant Chief Steward Jose Rivera, John Mata, and Alexander Prendas. They were assisted by UE Field Organizer Eric Cortes-Kopp. Eastern Region President Janet Gray, General Executive Board Member Dean Pacileo from Local 243, and Local 506 President Ryan Mudger and Business Agent John Miles provided valuable advice. The Private Equity Shareholder Project coordinated various meetings with representatives of the NYS and NYC pension funds.