Labor & Employment Law

D.C. Teachers Can Vote on Pact After Long Delay?and More Bargaining News

By Belinda Boyce

Some 4,000 Washington, D.C., teachers finally get to vote on the contract reached weeks ago, 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
AFT, Washington, D.C.: Teachers in Washington, D.C., will finally have the opportunity to vote on the five-year contract reached weeks ago, after the district has confirmed it has the money to fully fund the 20 percent wage increase provided by the contract. The 4,000 members of the Washington Teachers Union/AFT will vote on the deal over the next two weeks.

Ironworkers, Central Illinois Builders Association: Ironworkers who returned to work after a one-week strike have reached a one-year tentative agreement with the Central Illinois Builders Association. The contract, which will be voted on by the 350 members of Ironworkers Local 46 on May 21, would provide a 2.4 percent wage increase.

ALPA, Spirit Airlines: Members of the Air Line Pilots (ALPA) held an informational picket on Wednesday outside Spirit Airlines headquarters to demand a fair contract by June 12. On Tuesday, the National Mediation Board released ALPA and Spirit from arbitration, triggering a 30-day cooling-off period after which the pilots may strike. According to ALPA, “during the past three years of negotiations, Spirit management has done everything imaginable to avoid giving our pilots a new contract that is in line with our peers at other low-cost carriers.”

MNA-NNU, Multiple Hospitals: As 12,000 Minnesota nurses prepare to vote on whether to strike, thousands turned out for an informational picket outside three hospitals on Wednesday. The Minnesota Nurses Association-National Nurses United (MNA-NNU) is in bargaining with 14 Twin Cities-area hospitals and is fighting for staffing ratios that ensure patient safety.

ALPA, Jazz Airlines: 1,500 pilots at Jazz Air, which operates flights for Air Canada, may strike after a 21-day cooling-off period ends in mid-June. ALPA has been in negotiations with Jazz for more than a year and says the airline “has offered its pilots nothing whatsoever at the bargaining table.”

UFCW, Kroger: 8,000 grocery workers in Texas have reached a tentative four-year agreement with Kroger Co.  The members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1000 will vote on the deal later this month.

WORK STOPPAGES
UAW, Boeing: 1,700 workers at a Boeing jet assembly plant in Long Beach, Calif., went on strike just after midnight Tuesday after the members of UAW Local 148 rejected the company’s latest proposal. Management’s offer included lower company contributions to the pension and increased worker contribution to health care.

Multiple, State of New York: A federal judge in New York last week issued a temporary restraining order to block the furlough of 100,000 state workers after four unions filed a lawsuit. Also, as requested by AFSCME and the Public Employees Federation/AFT-SEIU, the judge ordered Gov. David Paterson to include in any future spending bills funding for raises that were due to take effect April 1.

IAM, Pratt & Whitney: The Machinists (IAM) continues to fight the closure of two Pratt & Whitney factories in Connecticut, as the two sides prepare to face off in court again next month. Pratt is appealing a February ruling by a lower court judge who determined the company violated its labor agreements by not exploring alternatives to shutting down the Connecticut plants. IAM calls the company’s appeal “baseless.”

OPEIU, Massachusetts Trial Court: Earlier this month, an arbitrator ruled the Massachusetts Trial Court must pay 3,200 clerical workers $30 million in back pay. The Trial Court violated its contract with Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 6 when it refused to pay raises since 2007.

AFSCME, Wayne County: AFSCME will fight a decision by Michigan’s Wayne County to issue weeklong layoffs of 700 workers for three weeks this summer. AFSCME and the county have been in a months-long dispute over pay cuts and furloughs, and Wayne County was found to have violated the labor contract when it ordered furloughs earlier this year.

SETTLEMENTS
WGAE, ABC News: Workers at ABC News in New York and Washington, D.C., overwhelmingly voted to ratify a three-year contract. The news writers, editors, graphic designers and other TV and radio station workers are members of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).

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 May 17, 2010 (boomark / email).