Philadelphia Transit Workers End Strike, and More Bargaining News
More than 5,100 members of the Transport Workers (TWU) ended their strike in Philadelphia this morning, 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.
NEGOTIATIONS
TWU, SEPTA: The six-day strike by Philadelphia transit workers is over. Transport Workers (TWU) Local 234 and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) reached a tentative agreement early this morning, in time to get trains and buses running for the morning commute. A ratification vote by TWU’s 5,100 members will be held in the next 10 days.
Workers Join AFSCME, Machinists and IUE-CWA in Recent Campaigns
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Some 2,600 family child care providers in New Mexico recently voted to join Child Care Providers Together (CCPT)/New Mexico, an AFSCME affiliate. Meanwhile, aerospace workers in Georgia voted for Machinists (IAM) representation and car rental workers in Boston chose IUE-CWA.
In New Mexico, the child care workers—who care for children whose parents are eligible for state child care assistance—topped off their three-year fight for a voice at work last week when their vote to join CCPT was certified.
In April, Gov. Bill Richardson (D) signed legislation the workers had fought for since 2006 to win the right to join a union to improve their lives and the quality of home child care services in the state.
1,800 Boeing Workers Ratify Pact with Pay Increases—and More Bargaining News
Some 1,800 Boeing workers ratify pact with pay increases, 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
UAW, Boeing: Members of UAW Local 1069 at Boeing’s Rotorcraft plant near Philadelphia ratified a new five-year contract yesterday, after their contract expired Oct. 1. The new pact covers nearly 1,800 workers and includes annual raises between 2 percent and 4 percent and improves pension benefits.
2,000 City Workers Ratify Pact with Milwaukee—and More Bargaining News
AFSCME members ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee, 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
AFSCME, City of Milwaukee: Members of AFSCME Council 48 ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee. The 2,000 city employees agreed to a pay freeze for 2010 and 2011 in return for a no-layoff guarantee.
Taking a Break at the Convention
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When delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention take a break from the serious business on the floor, they’ve had a wide choice of interesting things to do and see in the lobby outside the hall.
The hall outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center offers balconies overlooking the impressive skyline above the Allegheny River, which runs alongside the David Lawrence Convention Center. Inside, our Union Shop has set up a booth with union-made buttons, T-shirts and books, and the lines of delegates and guests often has been long, as many delegates take advantage of the opportunity to buy a worker-related book or labor pin to take back home after the convention.
Another exhibit that’s drawing a lot of interest is the Union Plus “Tell Your Union Story” booth, where union members are videotaped as they tell how and why they got involved with union activities and what a union means to them. The booth is sponsored by Union Privilege, which provides consumer benefits to members and retirees of participating unions. “We want to help tell the union story,” says Jon Ross, vice president of Union Privilege.
So many people don’t know the union story. We want to help spread the word. Every union member has a story about why they became a union activist or how unions help their community. We wanted to capture that.
Retirement Security Is Matter of Dignity
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For more than 70 years, the three-legged stool of Social Security, pensions and personal savings have guaranteed retirement security for millions of retirees. It ensured that the promise of America—-if you work hard and play by the rules you will live in a comfortable and secure retirement—is fulfilled.
But now that stool is broken and many retirees are suffering from the fall. Once guaranteed pensions are being tossed aside for insecure 401(k) plans or junked altogether.
Today, the AFL-CIO Convention adopted a resolution reaffirming the federation’s commitment to strengthen and improve existing public and private defined-benefit pension plans and 401(k)s.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George summed up the issue this way:
We need to develop a bold new initiative for those without pensions, based upon the principle of mutual responsibility—with government, employers and individuals all contributing. This, together with Social Security, must provide a universal, secure and adequate income for retirees in the 21st century.
Tropicana’s New Owners Get Chance to Treat Workers Fairly, and More Bargaining News
Will the new owners at Atlantic City’s Tropicana casino reverse the previous owner’s anti-worker practices? Get this and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,100 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
UAW, Tropicana: Members of the UAW at Atlantic City casinos stated that new management at Tropicana has the opportunity for a 180-degree turnaround from past illegal practices and should begin fair negotiations for a first labor agreement.
“It’s hard to believe that a company run by a judge would break the law, but that’s what the National Labor Relations Board is telling us,” said Eric Knuttel, who has been a dealer at Tropicana for 27 years. Tropicana has been administered under a conservatorship by former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein since December 2007, after previous owners lost their license to operate the casino.
Transportation Security Meets with Government Employees, and More Bargaining News
Transportation Security holds first-ever meeting with government employees—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,100 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
AFGE, TSA: AFGE leaders met with Transportation Security Administration management in a first-ever formal meeting. “The past eight years with the Bush administration have been an uphill battle and we are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “With this meeting, TSA has acknowledged that AFGE is an integral piece of the agency’s relationship with its employees.”
Two Unions in Hawaii Seek to Block Governor from Ordering Furloughs—and More Bargaining News
Two unions in Hawaii seek to block the governor from ordering furloughs for thousands of state workers—and more updates here 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.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
Multiple, BART: Two of the larger BART unions, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and SEIU Local 1021, agreed to extend their labor contracts beyond the June 30 expiration through July 9 at midnight. AFSCME, which represents white-collar workers at BART, expects to sign a similar extension. You can get real-time updates on Twitter at https://twitter.com/realbartworkers.
103 Students Set to Graduate from National Labor College
Rachelle Honeycutt works at an oil refinery in Washington State. Sam Schaffer is a skilled sheet metal worker from West Virginia. Javier Almazan organizes workers in south Florida and Cathy Merkel is a registrar in Maryland. They’re all union members. And in a few days, all four will be graduates of one of the crown jewels of the labor movement: the National Labor College.
With a 46-acre campus just outside Washington, D.C., the nation’s only labor college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and grants bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The college evolved from the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, created in 1969, and now partners with the University of Baltimore and George Mason University for its graduate degree programs.
On Saturday, 101 students will receive B.A. degrees and two others will be awarded M.A. degrees, as the Labor College graduates its 11th class in a ceremony on the Silver Spring, Md., campus. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will give the commencement address.
