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IUE-CWA Pacts Boost Wages, Job Security at Delphi, GM
IUE-CWA members overwhelmingly ratified 4-year national agreements bringing increased job security, wage increases, pension and health care improvements to 10,000 members at Delphi Corp. and an additional 4,000 at General Motors.
"Our members have won two outstanding contracts," said Jim Clark, chair of the union's Automotive Conference Board, who led national negotiations in Troy, Mich. "In this tough economy, our members now have the opportunity for the greater job and income security they deserve for their efforts to make our plants productive."
The Delphi pact, covering members in Moraine, Kettering and Warren, Ohio, Gadsden, Ala., Clinton and Brookhaven, Miss., Anaheim, Calif., and New Brunswick, N.J., extends a plant-closing moratorium to all IUE-CWA plants, along with other job security improvements.
In addition, Delphi committed to working with the union to attempt to bring new work to Delphi's Anaheim, Calif., battery plant, which is being severely challenged due to a decline in the battery business.
As part of the agreement, Delphi said it would communicate to its suppliers its respect for IUE-CWA and the benefits of an organized workforce.
"I commend the company for having the courage in today's anti-worker environment to acknowledge the significant contributions union workers make," said IUE-CWA President Ed Fire. "We have set the stage for what I hope will be growth both for IUE-CWA and Delphi."
"This contract fully meets the needs of our members," said IUE-CWA District 7 President Mike Bindas. "IUE-CWA has made tremendous strides in winning provisions to keep good manufacturing jobs in this country."
Clark said representatives of conference board locals on both national committees "did an excellent job," and he praised the hard work Local 84798 and the productivity of members for the success of the GM negotiations.
Local 84798 represents all IUE-CWA members at GM's Moraine, Ohio, assembly plant, the overwhelming bulk of those covered by the national contract. Local members narrowly rejected a separate local agreement covering attendance, job classifications and workrules.
"We're having dialog now to see if we can work out something satisfactory. If we can, we'll have another agreement and we'll put it before the membership for a vote," Clark said.
GM agreed to invest $50 million into its Moraine, assembly plant and will bring in a new vehicle, the Saab SUV. Production will start next fall at the plant which currently produces the GMC Envoy, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer sport utility and the Buick Ranier, a truck-based SUV. All are selling well and the plant is operating at full capacity.
Both agreements bring members a $3,000 signing bonus, 3 percent performance bonuses for workers with seniority as of Sept. 20, 2004, improved cost-of-living protection, and base wage increases of 2 percent in 2005 and 3 percent in 2006.
Both pacts bring improvements to the traditional health plan, preserve HMOs and PPOs, and set co-payments at $5 for generic prescription drugs and $10 for name brands.
Pension increases total $4.20 per month for each year of service by the end of the contract, plus $800 payments to retirees in December 2003 and each December thereafter.
Both companies pledged to consider endorsing the Kennedy-Miller Employee Free Choice Act that would reform federal labor law by requiring card-check elections and employer neutrality in organizing campaigns.
"Our members have won two outstanding contracts," said Jim Clark, chair of the union's Automotive Conference Board, who led national negotiations in Troy, Mich. "In this tough economy, our members now have the opportunity for the greater job and income security they deserve for their efforts to make our plants productive."
The Delphi pact, covering members in Moraine, Kettering and Warren, Ohio, Gadsden, Ala., Clinton and Brookhaven, Miss., Anaheim, Calif., and New Brunswick, N.J., extends a plant-closing moratorium to all IUE-CWA plants, along with other job security improvements.
In addition, Delphi committed to working with the union to attempt to bring new work to Delphi's Anaheim, Calif., battery plant, which is being severely challenged due to a decline in the battery business.
As part of the agreement, Delphi said it would communicate to its suppliers its respect for IUE-CWA and the benefits of an organized workforce.
"I commend the company for having the courage in today's anti-worker environment to acknowledge the significant contributions union workers make," said IUE-CWA President Ed Fire. "We have set the stage for what I hope will be growth both for IUE-CWA and Delphi."
"This contract fully meets the needs of our members," said IUE-CWA District 7 President Mike Bindas. "IUE-CWA has made tremendous strides in winning provisions to keep good manufacturing jobs in this country."
Clark said representatives of conference board locals on both national committees "did an excellent job," and he praised the hard work Local 84798 and the productivity of members for the success of the GM negotiations.
Local 84798 represents all IUE-CWA members at GM's Moraine, Ohio, assembly plant, the overwhelming bulk of those covered by the national contract. Local members narrowly rejected a separate local agreement covering attendance, job classifications and workrules.
"We're having dialog now to see if we can work out something satisfactory. If we can, we'll have another agreement and we'll put it before the membership for a vote," Clark said.
GM agreed to invest $50 million into its Moraine, assembly plant and will bring in a new vehicle, the Saab SUV. Production will start next fall at the plant which currently produces the GMC Envoy, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer sport utility and the Buick Ranier, a truck-based SUV. All are selling well and the plant is operating at full capacity.
Both agreements bring members a $3,000 signing bonus, 3 percent performance bonuses for workers with seniority as of Sept. 20, 2004, improved cost-of-living protection, and base wage increases of 2 percent in 2005 and 3 percent in 2006.
Both pacts bring improvements to the traditional health plan, preserve HMOs and PPOs, and set co-payments at $5 for generic prescription drugs and $10 for name brands.
Pension increases total $4.20 per month for each year of service by the end of the contract, plus $800 payments to retirees in December 2003 and each December thereafter.
Both companies pledged to consider endorsing the Kennedy-Miller Employee Free Choice Act that would reform federal labor law by requiring card-check elections and employer neutrality in organizing campaigns.