Bargaining Digest Weekly

by Gordon Pavy, Sep 30, 2006

The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 800 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining at Work.

As we wait for a Kentucky River ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), other developments in the courts will affect the freedom of workers to form unions.

• The NLRB ruled that FedEx home delivery drivers are direct employees at two Massachusetts facilities and thus can seek union representation. 
• NLRB to rule on voluntary recognition agreements in the Dana and Metaldyne cases.
• A national decision on the rights of workers employed by Native American tribes will be heard by the D.C. court. 

In Colorado, an appeals court refused to revive a campaign finance rule that would have required unions in that state to get union members’ permission to spend dues money on politics.

Members of the Screen Actors (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) ratified a two-year extension of their contract covering commercials.

The USW International Union (USW) offered a deal to Camillus Cutlery that would end their four-month strike. No response yet from the company. Also, some 300 USW members at a Coshocton maker of auto floor mats began a strike over health care cost shifting.

In other USW news, USW workers ratified a new, three-year agreement at Golden Gate National Senior Center. RN’s in that facility, who are being denied union benefits, are among the lead cases in the upcoming ruling by the NLRB that could significantly limit who is eligible for union membership.

Meanwhile, negotiations between Goodyear and the USW are nearing a crossroads. The company continues to resist being the next tire company to settle with USW. Keep up with Goodyear negotiations on the website, GKD Solidarity Express.

OPEIU says that striking PHI pilots want retroactive pay in any new agreement replacing the one that expired two-and-a-half years ago.

The Newspaper Guild-CWA workers at the Boston Globe and Herald are facing wage freezes. The contracts are not ready for union votes yet, but the Globe agreement would provide jurisdiction over the website, Boston.com. Owners of the paper have threatened to sell the paper if a new agreement cutting costs cannot be reached.

An independent union in Florida organized the first pizza drivers union after failed attempts in other states.

Some 2,100 Machinist (IAM) members in the seventh month of a lockout at AK Steel rejected the company’s latest offer. The main issue is job security and outsourcing. No negotiations are set. The strike is affecting the Middletown economy. Negotiations are expected to resume in a week or so after the workers rejected the latest offer. Get more information on the lockout here.

In Wichita, IAM members likely will vote today on a new Bombardier contract. The ratification meeting is set, but the local union negotiating team still has no final complete proposal from the company.

After rumors of possible UAW buyouts at American Axle, the company won a GM contract for production of parts for the new Camaro in Mexico instead of Buffalo. The Camaro will be made in Ontario.

American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) members in the Syracuse (N.Y.) Orchestra turned down a tentative contract and called for a mediator.

AFSCME in Indiana is asking lawmakers to intervene to block a privatization plan by the state that would outsource the jobs of food stamp, welfare and Medicaid intake workers.

Over in Sacramento, the strike by public employees in Sacramento may resume. AFSCME county health workers rejected the contract.

Greyhound bus drivers represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) protested the layoff of 1,400 workers who have been fired in the past two years. Their contract expires next January.

The Electrical Workers (IBEW) reached agreement with Keyspan in New York and is dropping its opposition to the merger with National Grid.

NCR joins the list of companies ending defined-benefit pension plans. The company will increase its 401(k) match to 4 percent. Employer matches to workers’ contributions to 401(k) plans must rise eight more percentage points to make up for benefits lost from frozen defined-benefit plans. NCR falls well short of that mark. 

On the heels of their announcement of a test program for $4 drug generic prices, Wal-Mart is eliminating its traditional health plan for new hires and replacing it with a high-deductible plan. Guess they didn’t hear about a new Watson Wyatt report saying most workers fear higher costs and reductions in health benefits and employers risk failing to retain workers if they reduce benefits. 

Air Line Pilots (ALPA) President Duane Woerth will sit on a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) panel that is considering raising the mandatory pilots’ retirement age from 60 to 65. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation requires mandatory reductions in pension of pilots who retire at 60, and those who work for an airline that goes bankrupt are prevented from retiring at age 60 although they have no choice to stay on.

In international news, German railworkers will strike today to protest a privatization plan and bank workers in Sao Paolo, Brazil, went on strike for a 7 percent pay raise.