450 Service Workers Join USW and More Bargaining News

by May Silverstein, Mar 10, 2008

More than 450 service workers at St. Mary Medical Center in California join the United Steelworkers (USW) and more 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
USW, St. Mary Medical Center: More than 450 service workers at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW).  About 160 technical workers at the hospital already are members of the USW.

Work Stoppages
UAW, American Axle: Some 3,600 UAW members at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike after their contract expired with no new agreement. However, union negotiators have met over the past week with company officials for the first time since Feb. 25.  American Axle wants to gut wages by as much as half. About 80 percent of American Axle’s business goes to new General Motors (GM) vehicles and in a statement, GM announced it will temporarily shutter seven plants due to parts shortages.  

CNA/NNOC, Sutter Health:  In California, nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), at Sutter Health system facilities, including Alta Bates Summit Medical Center campuses in Berkeley and Oakland and at San Leandro Hospital, voted to authorize a 10-day strike. Additionally, 700 registered nurses in San Mateo County, Calif., also represented by CNA/NNOC, authorized a strike of up to 10 days at two Peninsula hospitals, an affiliate of Sutter Health. Nurses at 11 Sutter hospitals held two-day walkouts in Octber and December, citing concerns over breaks, health benefits and reduced staffing at Sutter facilities. 

ATU, Lakeland Bus: More than 86 drivers, mechanics and cleaners, represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1614, at Dover, N.J.-based Lakeland Bus Co., authorized a strike. Workers have been contract-less since January 2005.

Negotiations
SAG, Independent Producers: The Screen Actors (SAG) is offering guarantees
to independent producers that cast members will finish work on upcoming projects even if there is a strike this summer. Under the terms of the Guaranteed Completion Contracts, the producer agrees to the terms of any interim contract that SAG may offer and to become signatory to the successor agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).  Contract talks with major studios are expected to begin in April. The current agreement expires June 30.

Settlements
IAM, Lockheed Martin: On March 2, 4,900 workers, represented by the Machinists (IAM), ratified three separate agreements, covering eight Lockheed Martin facilities in California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and West Virginia. The contracts call for an across-the-board wage increase of 4 percent March 8, followed by increases of 3 percent in each of the second and third years.  While quarterly cost-of-living adjustments will not change, a cost-of-living supplement paid each December will increase to $800, up from $700 per year.

IUE-CWA, General Motors: About 2,346 hourly workers at GM’s mid-sized sport utility vehicle plant in Dayton, Ohio, represented by the IUE-CWA Local 798, reached agreement on buyouts and early retirement packages that mirror those reached with the UAW.

UFCW, King Kullen/Shop & Stop: In the New York metropolitan area, 1,125 meat, seafood and deli workers at 98 supermarkets, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)  Local 342, ratified separate four-year contracts with King Kullen Grocery Co. March 3 and with Stop & Shop Supermarkets March 1. According to union leaders, the contract includes “improved wages, improvement for second tier members, a pension supplement, an annuity, improvements for part-timers, second-tier cutters, second-tier wrappers, second-tier seafood and deli clerks and second-tier managers.”

UFCW, Kroger: Some 7,500 workers, represented by UFCW Local 1529, ratified a four-year contract with grocer Kroger, covering 72 stores in parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi. The agreement calls for an increase in base wages by $1.50 per hour over the duration of the agreement and introduces weekly employee contributions to the cost of insurance effective Jan. 1, 2011.

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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