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Bargaining Digest Weekly |
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The lockout continues against mail order clerks represented by the United Steel Workers (USW) at Medco Health Solution’s dispensing pharmacy in Las Vegas.
More than 6 million union family members use Medco’s service, about 25 percent of Medco’s total business.
Click the following link to send an e-mail to Medco CEO David Snow telling him to end the lockout and negotiate a fair deal: david_snow@medco.com. Find out more by going to www.usw.org/rx.
Transit Workers Contract Still in Limbo…In New York City, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) board met but did not vote on the transit workers’ contract.
The MTA still insists the offer originally rejected by union members in December but recently approved is no longer on the table.
Transport Workers (TWU) Local 100 President Roger Toussaint left jail on Friday, days before completing his 10-day sentence for leading a three-day transit worker strike against MTA in December. Sentencing rules allowed for his release five days after beginning a 10-day sentence for leading the strike.
Attendants OK Pact With Alaska Airlines…After almost three years of talks, members of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) ratified a new contract with Alaska Airlines.
The four-year agreement, which covers 2,500 workers, raises pay and enhances profit sharing. The pact includes a 3 percent raise retroactive for the past 18 months, raises two years from now, and another increase in the final year.
The contract also places caps on medical premiums and provides protection against jobs being contracted out to other companies, union officials said.
Striking Auto Mechanics Preserve Pension…Auto mechanics represented by the Machinists (IAM) at a Honda dealership in Berkeley, Calif., preserved their defined-benefit pensions after a 10-month strike.
Under the five-year settlement, the pension will be shifted to the IAM national pension plan, with the company making contributions. In addition, some 20 mechanics, technicians, and detailers will be rehired in phases as business returns to normal.
The employees had been fired and were forced to reapply for their jobs after the dealership changed hands last year. A number of long-term employees were not rehired, but were replaced by younger workers. Picketers used a giant inflatable rat to publicize the dispute and gain support in the union-friendly community.
SAG Pacts Cover Animation, Mobile Phone Content…The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has approved a contract for actors performing in animated programs made for basic cable.
The 30-month contract includes a 20 percent increase in residuals, the first such increase in many years. The increase reflects the typical run pattern for animated basic cable episodes, an initial run followed by an average of about 25 repeats.
In addition, SAG, the Writers Guild West and the Directors Guild reached an agreement for cell phone shows, covering a new frontier.
The agreement with Touchstone Television (a unit of the ABC) focuses on so-called “mobisodes” for the television series “Lost.” The agreement covers employment for mobisodes that are no more than five minutes in length and are used on cell phones. Touchstone Television has agreed to negotiate terms for future mobisodes, as well.
“This unique agreement represents a crucial first step into a new frontier of production and content distribution,” says SAG President Alan Rosenberg.
Delphi Bankruptcy Update…The Auto Workers (UAW) and other Delphi unions told the bankruptcy court that the company has not proved it needed to slash wages
They report that Delphi paid for a lavish three-day Caribbean cruise for dealers that began the same day as the UAW agreement to cut the hourly workforce
IUE-CWA are in talks reopening their current agreement before a bankruptcy hearing scheduled for May 8 on the company’s request for canceling its labor agreements.
In a related situation, IUE-CWA assembly workers ratified a contract to keep the GM plant open in Moraine City, Ohio.
Other Developments…Detroit’s city government is demanding concessions from metropolitan workers in budget talks. AFSCME and other Detroit unions are willing to contribute more to health care, but they are balking at taking a 10 percent pay cut proposed by the mayor.
In Puerto Rico, a $740 million budget shortfall threatens a total government shutdown that would affect 205,000 public workers. Local lawmakers must approve a $638 million bailout loan and a 7 percent sales tax for the government to stay afloat.
The Newspaper Guild-CWA is calling on the Justice Department, as well as state attorneys general, to assess the antitrust implications of the sale of four papers by the California-based McClatchy Co. to Denver-based MediaNews, in a deal also involving Hearst. The four papers–the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Monterey Times, San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa (Calif.) Times–were part of an earlier sell-off of 32 papers by Knight Ridder to McClatchy. The Newspaper Guild had formed a partnership with Yucaipa Cos. to bid for nine of the Knight Ridder papers.
A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health advisory panel begins a three-day meeting Tuesday in Denver to review Rocky Flats radiation exposure records. The USW says nearly 3,000 claims have been filed that can’t be properly assessed because of faulty recordkeeping.
The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily bargaining related news and research resources by e-mail to 700 union leaders throughout the country. Union leaders can register for this service through our website at Bargaining at Work.
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