Labor & Employment Law

43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers Ratify Pact, and More Bargaining News

By May Silverstein

Some 43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers of America ratify a revised contract?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.

SETTLEMENTS
CWA, New Jersey: More than 43,000 workers in the largest union representing New Jersey state workers, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), ratified a revised contract that defers a raise and swaps furloughs this year for future vacation days. “During these hard economic times, nothing is more important than protecting vital public services and the jobs of working people,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA’s New Jersey area director. 

AFT, Providence Schools: Providence, R.I., teachers, represented by AFT, ratified a three-year contract, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2007, that contains modest wage increases and requires teachers to pay more for their health care. 

MULTIPLE, Michigan: Michigan state workers, represented by AFSCME Council 5 and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE-Ind.), have a new contract that helps the financially struggling state by suspending raises for years of service in the first year but reinstating those increases in the second year. 

IATSE, New York Metro Opera: The stagehands of the New York City Metropolitan Opera, represented by Local 1 of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), agreed to forgo a 3 percent increase in salary for the 2009-2010 season in exchange for extending the contract an additional year when the full pay raises will take effect.

AFSCME, Hartford, Conn.: In Hartford, Conn., city workers, represented by AFSCME, have a new contract that helps the financially struggling city in exchange for greater job security. 

IAFF, Fitchburg, Mass.: Fitchburg, Mass., firefighters, represented by the IAFF, voted in favor of a 3 percent concession to avoid major reductions in the city’s fire services. 

WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
UAW, Bell Helicopter: Striking Bell Helicopter workers, represented by UAW Local 317, ratified a new three-year agreement. Details were not released. 

IBEW, Penelec Energy: More than 500 striking Penelec/FirstEnergy workers in Erie, Pa., represented by the Electrical Workers (IBEW), agreed to federal mediation in contract negotiations. The union’s last contract expired May 14. Workers went on strike May 21. The company is asking for major concessions?despite making $55 million in profit last year. 

IBEW, Denali National Park: Bus mechanics, radio technicians and warehouse workers at Denali National Park, represented by IBEW Local 1547 in Anchorage, Alaska, have authorized a strike after negotiations for a new contract stalled over the past six months. 

MULTIPLE, Colorado: In Ludlow, Colo., members from various unions that include the Fire Fighters (IAFF) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) turned their backs to Gov. Bill Ritter (D) in protest at an event commemorating the site of the 1914 Ludlow massacre as a historic landmark. He recently vetoed bills that would have advanced collective bargaining rights.

NEGOTIATIONS
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 BART white-collar workers, signed a similar extension. You can get real-time updates on Twitter at https://twitter.com/realbartworkers.

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
BCTGM, Stella D’Oro: Stella D’oro bakery workers, represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) Local 50, have been on strike since August 2008 in New York. Now the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled the company illegally refused a return-to-work offer for the 134 strikers and ordered Stella D’oro to reinstate the workers and pay back wages to May.  In a 32-page ruling, Steven Davis, an administrative law judge with the NLRB in Washington, D.C., found the company had improperly refused to bargain with the union by declining to give the union a copy of its 2007 audited financial statement. BCTGM issued this press release in response. 

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.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).