1,500 Temple Health Care Workers on Day 6 of Strike—and More Bargaining News

by Belinda Boyce, Apr 5, 2010

The 1,500 striking Temple health care workers want the hospital to document the credentials of their replacements, 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.

WORK STOPPAGES & LEGAL ACTION
NNU-PASNAP, Temple University Hospital: The 1,500 striking nurses and other health care workers at Temple University Hospital, now on day six of their strike, are calling on the hospital to document the credentials of the 850 temporary staff it has hired. The members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP-NNU) will hold a rally in front of the hospital tomorrow.

Multiple, U.S. Postal Service: The Letter Carriers (NALC), the Postal Workers (APWU), the National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA-Ind.) and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU)  hope Congress will defeat a proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. The four unions suggest Congress address the U.S. Postal Service’s massive debt by modifying the current requirement for prefunding retiree health care costs.

UFCW, Shaw’s Supermarkets: United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 791 and Shaw’s Supermarkets failed to reach an agreement last Monday when they met with a federal mediator. The union says Shaw’s did not show up at the mediation to bargain but instead presented the same “inferior” offer rejected by workers earlier this month. Grocery workers and their supporters had planned to protest Shaw’s Supermarkets’ decision to stop providing health care for the 300 striking workers and their families. The union is disappointed at the company’s decision to cut health care, rather than bargain for a new agreement.

NEGOTIATIONS
IAM, Hawaiian Airlines: The Machinists (IAM) District 142 reached a tentative four-year agreement with Hawaiian Airlines. The contract would cover 600 mechanics and related workers and would provide a 15 percent wage increase over the term.

UNITEHERE!, Westin Providence: Some members of the cast and crew of the new television drama “Body of Evidence,” filming in Providence, R.I., switched hotels after learning of UNITEHERE! Local 217′s boycott of the Westin Providence. Hotel workers have been picketing the hotel since March 18, after management imposed a 20 percent pay cut and increased worker health care contributions. Actresses Dana Delaney and Jeri Ryan were among the members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) who honored the boycott. 

USW, Pinnacle Airlines: United Steelworkers (USW) Local 736 has reached a tentative agreement with Pinnacle Airlines for ground workers in Memphis, Tenn., and across the United States. USW will hold a ratification vote for the 930 workers who would be covered by the contract.

UAW, General Motors Corp.: UAW Local 167 members at a GM valve-lifter plant in western Michigan overwhelmingly rejected a Memorandum of Understanding that would have frozen wages and reduced the starting skilled pay by $3 an hour. As one worker put it, “[GM] underestimated their employees’ intelligence.”

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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