Bargaining Update

East Orange Municipal Workers Ratify Agreement

Members of CWA Local 1077 in East Orange, N.J., ratified a contract covering 400 municipal workers. The contract, also approved by the city of East Orange, will benefit workers, city residents and the entire community.

CWA Local 1077 President Bennie Bratley said the contract provides for flat pay increases in the first two contract years and percentage increases for the rest of the contract term. The agreement is in effect through 2018.

“One of the best features of this agreement,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA's New Jersey Director, is that it “phases in a minimum wage of $15 an hour by the end of the contract. There aren’t a lot of workers who fall into this category, but for those who do, this provides them with a living wage. CWA applauds the mayor for his foresight in making sure that people who live and work in East Orange are paid a living wage.”

The contract also establishes a new health care savings committee.

Read more here.

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Envoy Air Flight Attendants Ratify Mid-Term Improvements

Envoy Air Flight Attendants, represented by AFA-CWA, approved mid-term contract improvements that provide for yearly pay increases through 2020 and improvements to per diem and reserve stand-by pay.

Envoy Flight Attendants ratified an eight-year contract in 2012, that called for binding arbitration in 2016. Flight Attendants began negotiating with Envoy management last year. The agreement covers more than 1,200 Envoy Flight Attendants. Envoy, which is wholly owned by American Airlines, plans to hire more than 400 Flight Attendants this year.

“Envoy Flight Attendants made a collective decision that will carry us through the next four years,” said Robert Barrow, AFA President at Envoy Air. “We are dedicated to raising the standard in the regional industry for Flight Attendants.”