Showing posts with label labor unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor unions. Show all posts
Friday, March 15, 2013
Members Of USW Local 8888 Ratify New Contract That Bucks National Trend On Workers' Health Care Costs
Long-term Pact with Owner of Newport News Shipbuilding Passes by 9 to 1 Margin
PITTSBURGH, March 15, 2013- The United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8888 in Newport News, Va., overwhelmingly ratified a new collective bargaining agreement this morning. The 52-month contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent company of Newport News Shipbuilding, passed by an overwhelming 9 to 1 margin. It covers some 11,000 employees.The pact delivers wage increases of 14.2 percent on average; contains over $16,400 in new money per worker over the life of the agreement – not counting overtime and other wage additives; reduces employees' health care insurance premiums by 15 percent; increases the minimum monthly pension benefit from $1,350 to $1,450 on August 1, 2013 and then to $1,550 on August 1, 2015; and, bolsters promotional opportunities and increases personal leave time for employees.
USW International Vice President Fred Redmond, who was Local 8888's chief negotiator, said what the union accomplished at the bargaining table was even more remarkable in the volatile political climate of sequester budget cuts and the pending expiration of the temporary measure that funds federal agencies, including the Department of Navy.
"At times it got rough, but we stayed on course, stuck to our members' priorities and navigated to a place that created a win-win situation for our union and the company," said Redmond.
At a time when more and more employers are demanding increases in deductibles, coinsurance and employee premium sharing, which shift costs to employees, the Steelworkers bucked that trend. Perhaps, the signature victory for USW Local 8888 was that the bargaining team demanded and won a 15 percent reduction in health care premiums. Moreover, future employee health care premiums will be adjusted to account for differences in premium payments and the contractual 25 percent employee share of health care costs.
USW Local 8888 President Arnold Outlaw said, "Our members really like this. They wanted a real pay raise that wasn't going to be eaten up by higher health care costs. Fortunately, we found a way to accomplish that."
USW Local 8888 members are proud to claim that they work in the only shipyard in the U.S. capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and one of only two shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy. They also maintain, repair and refuel nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and subs for the Navy.
The USW represents about 850,000 workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glassmaking to mining, steel, oil, paper, tire and rubber to the public sector, service and health care industries.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
GM and UAW Reach Tentative Agreement
DETROIT, Sept. 17, 2011 - General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative four-year agreement at approximately 11 p.m. EDT Friday.
"We used a creative problem solving approach to reach an agreement that addresses the needs of employees and positions our business for long-term success," said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president, Labor Relations. "We worked hard for a contract that recognizes the realities of today's marketplace, enabling GM to continue to invest in U.S. manufacturing and provide good jobs to thousands of Americans."
Since August 2009, GM has announced investments of more than $5.1 billion and created or retained almost 13,000 jobs in its U.S. manufacturing plants.
Terms of the four-year agreement are not being shared publicly to allow the UAW International to educate its membership about the agreement and conduct a ratification vote. The vote is expected to take place within the next seven to 10 days.
If ratified, the agreement would cover approximately 48,500 GM employees in the United States, who are represented by the UAW.
General Motors (NYSE: GM, TSX: GMM), one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 208,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 30 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. The global Chevrolet brand celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. GM's largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Italy. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
"We used a creative problem solving approach to reach an agreement that addresses the needs of employees and positions our business for long-term success," said Cathy Clegg, GM vice president, Labor Relations. "We worked hard for a contract that recognizes the realities of today's marketplace, enabling GM to continue to invest in U.S. manufacturing and provide good jobs to thousands of Americans."
Since August 2009, GM has announced investments of more than $5.1 billion and created or retained almost 13,000 jobs in its U.S. manufacturing plants.
Terms of the four-year agreement are not being shared publicly to allow the UAW International to educate its membership about the agreement and conduct a ratification vote. The vote is expected to take place within the next seven to 10 days.
If ratified, the agreement would cover approximately 48,500 GM employees in the United States, who are represented by the UAW.
General Motors (NYSE: GM, TSX: GMM), one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 208,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 30 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. The global Chevrolet brand celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. GM's largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Italy. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Most Americans Critical of Unions While Crediting Them for Improving Wages and Working Conditions
NEW YORK - Labor unions are something that divide people. On one hand, a majority of Americans give labor unions credit for improving wages and working conditions for workers (65%). However, at the same time, most Americans also are very critical of labor unions which are seen as being to be too involved in politics (72%) and more concerned with fighting changes than trying to bring about change (71%).
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,450 adults surveyed online between August 8 and 15, 2011 by Harris Interactive.
Key findings from the survey include:
Almost two-thirds (65%) of adults agree that unions improve wages and working conditions of workers. A higher 72% of people who live in union households agree with this.
Over seven in ten believe that unions are too involved in politics (72%), are more concerned with fighting change than with trying to bring about change (71%) and stifle individual initiative (63%),
People in union households are somewhat less critical though majorities of union households still feel unions are too involved in politics (60%) and are more concerned about fighting change (63%). Further, a significant number of union families agree that unions stifle individual initiative (46%).
A majority of all adults (59%) disagree that unions work to get legislation that helps all working people, whether they are union members or not. Conversely, union members are more supportive of unions' efforts relating to legislation. Over half (55%) think unions work to get legislation that helps all working people.
By 62% to 38% a majority of Americans disagree that unions give members their money's worth for the dues they pay. Only 47% of union members agree with this sentiment.
So What?
Several months ago during the stand-off in Wisconsin between Governor Scott Walker and the Democratic State Senators over the rights of public employees to engage in collective bargaining, the role of labor unions came under new scrutiny. As a result of Governor Walker's actions, the unions in Wisconsin may have garnered a certain amount of sympathy. However, this new Harris Poll shows that nationally many people are very critical of labor union activities – even among union households they are seen as being too political. Unions do receive some credit for helping to improve conditions for workers but this traditional positive role doesn't offset the negatives. Still unions and their ability to mobilize resources – often for Democratic candidates – will be an important element for President Obama as we approach 2012 election year.
Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between August 8 to 15, 2011 among 2,450 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,450 adults surveyed online between August 8 and 15, 2011 by Harris Interactive.
Key findings from the survey include:
Almost two-thirds (65%) of adults agree that unions improve wages and working conditions of workers. A higher 72% of people who live in union households agree with this.
Over seven in ten believe that unions are too involved in politics (72%), are more concerned with fighting change than with trying to bring about change (71%) and stifle individual initiative (63%),
People in union households are somewhat less critical though majorities of union households still feel unions are too involved in politics (60%) and are more concerned about fighting change (63%). Further, a significant number of union families agree that unions stifle individual initiative (46%).
A majority of all adults (59%) disagree that unions work to get legislation that helps all working people, whether they are union members or not. Conversely, union members are more supportive of unions' efforts relating to legislation. Over half (55%) think unions work to get legislation that helps all working people.
By 62% to 38% a majority of Americans disagree that unions give members their money's worth for the dues they pay. Only 47% of union members agree with this sentiment.
So What?
Several months ago during the stand-off in Wisconsin between Governor Scott Walker and the Democratic State Senators over the rights of public employees to engage in collective bargaining, the role of labor unions came under new scrutiny. As a result of Governor Walker's actions, the unions in Wisconsin may have garnered a certain amount of sympathy. However, this new Harris Poll shows that nationally many people are very critical of labor union activities – even among union households they are seen as being too political. Unions do receive some credit for helping to improve conditions for workers but this traditional positive role doesn't offset the negatives. Still unions and their ability to mobilize resources – often for Democratic candidates – will be an important element for President Obama as we approach 2012 election year.
Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between August 8 to 15, 2011 among 2,450 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)