Workers Sign Up with AFSCME in California and South Dakota, and More Bargaining News

by May Silverstein, Feb 25, 2008

Workers sign up with AFSCME in California and South Dakota and more highlights from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Organizing
AFSCME, Park View Community Hospital: Some 260 nurses at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside, Calif., voted to join the United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC), an affiliate of AFSCME. Marlene Burnett, spokeswoman for Parkview Community Hospital, said the facility’s administration respects the nurses’ decision and would negotiate a contract with them.

AFSCME, Yankton, S.D.: Some 68 city employees in Yankton, S.D., voted to join AFSCME Council 59 by 71 percent.

Work Stoppages
TNG-CWA, Honolulu Advertiser: Approximately 600 media workers at the Honolulu Advertiser, represented by the Hawaii Newspaper Guild (TNG), an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), authorized a strike. They are protesting what management called its “final” contract offer, according to Wayne Cahill, an administrative officer with the union. The offer includes a 1 percent pay raise effective Oct. 27, a one-time bonus of 1.5 percent annual pay and “substantially higher” health care costs. The two sides began negotiating last May.  “The purpose of the strike authorization vote is to tell the company if they don’t start bargaining with us, they’re going to have people on the street,” Cahill said.

Boycotts
ILWU, HTH Corp.: On behalf of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the AFL-CIO has sanctioned a boycott of Honolulu-based HTH Corp. and its hotels, the Pacific Beach Hotel and the Pagoda Hotel. The AFL-CIO publicized plans to notify member unions in every state to avoid patronizing the hotels as a result of the long and contentious contract negotiations between HTH and ILWU Local 142. According to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney: “HTH Corp. has made a mark for itself as one of the worst employers in the country. They have violated federal labor law repeatedly and on a massive scale. They have treated their workers with utter disrespect. They have shown contempt for the law, for their employees and for the community.” 

Negotiations
IAM, GAF Materials Corp.: Workers at the GAF Materials Corp. roofing plant in Richland Township, Pa., represented by Machinists (IAM) Local 1761, rejected management’s severance package proposals that include $3,500 in severance to workers with 25 or more years service. According to Henry Scott, business agent for Local 1761, the proposals are unacceptable. GAF announced in January the plant would close due to the national downturn in the housing market.

Settlements
UAW, Magna: In Syracuse, N.Y., some 2,000 workers and their spouses, represented by UAW locals 624 and 2149, met to hear the details of a tentative agreement reached last week with Magna’s New Process Gear auto parts plant. The agreement includes promises of new work and an investment of $40 million to upgrade the plant, with the possibility of $55 million in investment in 2009 and 2010.

CWA, Cincinnati Bell, Inc.: Some 1,300 hourly employees, represented by CWA locals 4400 and 4401, reached a tentative three-year agreement with Cincinnati Bell Inc.  The contract would provide workers with a 4.5 percent pay increase over term, protect about 200 call center jobs that were at risk of being outsourced and offer an early retirement option for about 480 hourly employees. Ratification voting will conclude Feb. 27.  The current contract expires May 10, but Bell asked to begin talks early to help determine its future costs.

ALPA, Ryan International Airlines: More than 300 pilots at Ryan International Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), reached a tentative agreement after more than two years of negotiations. The agreement gives pilots an average 40 percent pay increase throughout the life of the four-year contract in addition to significant improvements in nearly every section of the contract, including retirement, scheduling, vacations, training, benefits and more.

AFSCME, Lowell, Mass.: Some 275 Lowell, Mass., workers, represented by AFSCME Local 1705, tentatively settled a three-year contract with the city government.  The contract would provide an 8 percent wage increase.

Disclaimer: This information is being provided for your information only.  As it is compiled from published news reports, not from individual unions, we cannot vouch for either its completeness or accuracy; readers who desire further information should directly contact the union involved.

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