Tag: Labor Contracts

Boeing Strike Continues

The strike has shut down the company’s plants in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Kansas, halting production of the company’s 737, 747, 767, and 777 airplanes.

the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) rejected the company’s latest offer. The strike was called only after the union agreed to a two-day negotiation extension requested by federal mediators and the governor of Washington.

Boeing is offering a meager 11 percent pay increase over three years, which means that workers will be forced to accept a substantial wage cut after inflation. The counterproposal by IAM, however, is barely an improvement over the company’s offer. The union is asking for a 13 percent increase over three years, which would still represent a cut in real wages.

Boeing is a very profitable company, pulling in $8.86 billion in net income from 2005 through 2007. It has over $10 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand, and has a backlog of orders lasting several years, including lucrative government contracts.

Boeing workers are also seeking to oppose further job cuts. Over the past decade, the number of workers at Boeing has been cut by more than half, from 60,000 to the current level of 27,000. The company has outsourced significance parts of its production process to lower-wage plants, reserving the main Boeing plants primarily for plane assembly. Boeing was able to secure greater flexibility in outsourcing in a 2002 contract signed by the IAM.

SAG UpDate #9

Thgis is a part of the Labvor Day message from the Union.

“This is what Labor Day commemorates — the dedication, commitment and tremendous courage of labor unions and union members throughout history. It is a tribute to our first president, Ralph Morgan and to other guild leaders like former president James Cagney and board member Humphrey Bogart, but Labor Day is also a tribute to you. It is a day set aside to honor all unions, but for us, it is an opportunity to honor SAG and the 120,000 members who reside within it.

Our efforts to reach agreement with industry representatives continue and SAG’s negotiators want to hear from you about your thoughts on the TV/Theatrical contract negotiations and Screen Actors Guild’s bargaining priorities. You will be receiving an important publication from SAG over the next several days. This Special Bulletin was mailed to all members across the country this week. The publication contains comprehensive information about our negotiations. Please look for your copy to arrive in your mailbox in the next several days.”

I could find no other updates on the progress of the negotiations.

Will Verizon Workers Strike?

Contracts covering 65,000 workers at the US telecommunications giant Verizon expire Saturday at midnight. Verizon executives are demanding that current and retired union workers accept massive health and pension concessions as well as greater flexibility to cut jobs and move workers.

Verizon has made extensive plans to continue operations in the event of a strike. Management employees from throughout the company will be relocated to work in areas affected by a possible strike. The company has also recruited retired supervisors to work during a strike. Contractors and non-union vendors have been hired and are being trained to do work normally performed by union employees.

Verizon employs 230,000 workers. It is one of two major telecommunications companies in the US providing landline, wireless, broadband and long distance service. The company is currently undertaking a massive upgrade to its network that will allow it to enter into the cable TV market.

The unions have not informed their members of any specific bargaining demands. Instead, they have spoken in generalities about defending jobs and maintaining benefits.

Nor have they set a strike deadline. In the past, both the CWA and IBEW have allowed contract deadlines to come and go without calling a strike. They have put forward the absurd claim that by doing so they are hurting the company by forcing it to cover the costs of an anticipated strike.

American Axel Tenative Deal

The tentative deal

Wages: In Detroit, ranging from $14.35 to $18.50. Wages for skilled-trades workers would be $26.

Buyouts: $85,000 or $140,000, depending on seniority.

Buy-downs: Up to $105,000 over 3 years.

Closures: Plants in Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., will close.

Wages

• In Detroit, production and support wages would range from $14.35 to $18.50 an hour, depending on the job. Skilled-trades workers would make $26 an hour.

• In Three Rivers, hourly wages would range from $10 to $18. Skilled-trades workers would be paid $25 an hour.

• In Cheektowaga, N.Y., hourly wages would range from $14.35 to $16.50. Skilled-trades workers would be paid $26 an hour.

New hires

Workers would start at $11.50 in production jobs and receive 51-cent raises every 26 weeks until they reach a maximum for their job category. Newly hired skilled-trades workers would start at $22 an hour and see raises of 50 cents every 26 weeks till they reach $26 an hour.

• Ratification bonus: $5,000.

• Buy-downs: As much as $105,000 for those who stay, distributed annually over 3 years.

• Exit package: Buyouts of $85,000 for workers with fewer than 10 years of seniority and $140,000 for those with more.

• Early retirement bonus: $55,000

Closures

Plants in Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., would close. The Detroit plant is on Holbrook, near the Detroit-Hamtramck border

Health care

Workers would pay premiums for the first time. A single employee with four years at American Axle would contribute $10.93 per week, while an employee with a spouse and children would contribute $27.32. These payments would increase 3% in 2010, and 3% every year after that.

Pensions

Frozen for workers with fewer than 20 years of service.

Layoff pay

Ranges from 26 to 42 weeks, depending on seniority.

New work

American Axle would invest $170 million to $200 million in its plants.

• Detroit: The deal adds a full-size van program through the 4-year agreement, brings outsourced midsize truck and SUV programs in house and replaces axle work for heavy-duty pickup.

• Cheektowaga, N.Y.: The deal includes an expansion of the plant, adds two new and three replacement programs.

This the deal that thew workers will be voting on……does it look like a good deal for them?