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Bargaining Digest Weekly |
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General Motors announced it will put $3 billion over the next three years into a new retiree health fund established as part of last year’s deal that included payment of retiree premiums.
Details have surfaced indicating GM’s agreement with IUE-CWA could keep the plant in Moraine City, Ohio, running for six more years. Workers are considering the pros and cons of taking the buyout while weighing the prospects for a recovery at GM.
Steven Pearlstein says Caterpillar’s reinvention through globalization provides a glimpse at what to expect from GM revitalization—shredding the social contract with union workers and over-rewarding top executives.
DOD Appeals Ruling on Personnel System…The Pentagon has decided to appeal the federal court ruling that blocked implementation of the Defense Department’s new personnel system that would take away most bargaining rights from employees.
A coalition of unions also is appealing some aspects of the February ruling in U.S. District Court. The new work rules were scheduled to begin taking effect last year and eventually would cover more than 600,000 employees. The unions say the new rules would gut collective bargaining for federal employees.
Help Sought on Medco Lockout…The lockout continues against 500 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 675 at the Las Vegas facility of Medco Health Solutions.
USW is asking trade unionists to urge state boards of pharmacy to investigate Medco’s practices. More information about the lockout that began April 5 is available at http://www.usw.org/usw/program/content/2885.php.
Retirement Expections Studied…Recently, the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) did a survey of workers’ retirement expectations.
What they found is a disconnect between what workers benefits are and what they think they will have or need at retirement. EBRI says this requires people to work longer than expected after they become eligible to retire. You can see the survey results by clicking here.
Other Developments…Two companies apparently are trying to negotiate a buyout of Wheeling-Pitt Steel, prompting the USW to press for protection of retirees through their VEBA plan. The USW has veto rights over the sale.
Reports that Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 will have to give up union dues deductions for 90 days as punishment for their December strike against the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in New York only tell half the story. TWU must promise never to strike again, or the cancellation of dues deductions will remain permanent.
The National Right to Work Committee has filed a lawsuit over the Thomas Built/Freightliner union election victory by the United Auto Workers (UAW) in North Carolina. The suit is against the NLRB’s dropping a challenge to the election by the NRTW committee.
Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration broke off contract talks with the air traffic controllers union (NATCA). Instead of good-faith bargaining, FAA has chosen to pursue a twisted interpretation of the law to unilaterally impose contract terms on its workers. If the agency gets away with it, members of two other unions (PASS and AFSCME) representing FAA workers will face the same fate. Union leaders say the imposed settlement would cut pay for new hires by 30 percent at a time when retirements threaten to dramatically reduce staff levels.
UAW negotiations with bankrupt auto supplier Tower Automotive are ongoing. But UAW Vice President Bob King says labor costs are not the problem, pointing to accumulated debt as the root of Tower’s woes. King says the union is willing to make some sacrifices, but the debt issue has to be addressed.
Internationally, Peugeot workers in the United Kingdom are facing a plant closing. French unions joined the British workers in the struggle, promising support in opposing closure of the Peugeot plant. In India, the government has stepped in to restart talks in the India bank strike.
The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department daily delivers bargaining news and research resources to 700 union leaders. You can register for this service through our website, Bargaining at Work.
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