26,000 CWA Members Approve Pact with AT&T—and More Bargaining News

by Belinda Boyce, Nov 16, 2009

Some 26,000 CWA members ratify pact with AT&T in the Southwest, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work. 

SETTLEMENTS

CWA, AT&T: AT&T workers in the Southwest ratified a new four-year contract. The 26,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 6 had been working under a contract that expired April 4. 

IUE-CWA, Dresser Rand: After nearly two years without a contract, workers at Dresser Rand’s Painted Post facility in New York ratified a contract, effective through March 1, 2013. The contract covers 340 members of IUE-CWA Local 313. 

UNITE HERE, Multiple Casinos: Casino workers in Atlantic City, N.J., overwhelmingly approved new two-year contracts at six casinos. The agreements cover some 5,000 members of UNITE HERE Local 54 at Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Taj Majal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina. 

WORK STOPPAGES AND ACTIONS

UNITE HERE, Palace Hotel: Members of UNITE HERE Local 2 held a three-day strike from Nov. 10-12 at a second San Francisco hotel. This strike at the Palace Hotel followed a three-day strike at the Grand Hyatt the previous week.  Hotel workers are protesting the hotels’ attempts to slash health care benefits. 

AFT, University of Illinois: More than 2,000 graduate workers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign went on strike this morning. Negotiations between the Graduate Employees Organization (IFT/AFT) Local 6300 and the university broke down Saturday when the university refused to guarantee continuation of its tuition waiver practice for graduate workers. 

ATU, Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority: Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 filed a lawsuit in federal court Nov. 9, requesting enforcement of an arbitration award that provided wage increases for about 7,700 transit workers in the Washington, D.C., area. The transit agency, Metro, is appealing the award, alleging the arbitration panel did not comply with federal law. 

NEGOTIATIONS

AFSCME, State of Iowa: Thousands of Iowa state workers, members of AFSCME Council 61, will vote later this month on whether to approve a “memorandum of understanding” with the state. Under the agreement, 20,000 AFSCME members would take five unpaid days off in exchange for a guarantee of no layoffs for the next seven months. 

UFCW, Safeway and Fry’s: A strike by 20,000 grocery workers in Arizona was averted when Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 reached a tentative agreement with Safeway and Fry’s supermarkets. Details of the agreement reached late Thursday have not been released. 

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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