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IUE-CWA Pacts Enhance Job Security at Delphi, GM
After round-the-clock negotiations, IUE-CWA achieved tentative 4-year 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.
"IUE-CWA 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 providing 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 meaningful provisions to keep good manufacturing jobs in this country."
Clark said representatives of conference board locals on the Delphi national committee "did an excellent job," and he praised the hard work Local 84798's bargaining committee and the productivity of members for the success of the GM negotiations.
GM agreed to invest $50 million in its Moraine, Ohio, assembly plant and will bring in a new vehicle, the Saab SUV. Production will start next fall under the terms of the agreement. All 4,000 IUE-CWA members work at the Morraine 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 pacts bring members a $3,000 signing bonus, improved cost-of-living protection, and base wage increases of 2 percent in 2005 and 3 percent in 2006.
Both agreements offer 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 each December for retirees, starting this year.
Both companies pledged to consider endorsing the Kennedy-Miller Employee Free Choice Act that would reform federal labor law by requiring cardcheck elections and employer neutrality in organizing campaigns.
Ratification votes are to be concluded by Nov. 24.
"IUE-CWA 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 providing 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 meaningful provisions to keep good manufacturing jobs in this country."
Clark said representatives of conference board locals on the Delphi national committee "did an excellent job," and he praised the hard work Local 84798's bargaining committee and the productivity of members for the success of the GM negotiations.
GM agreed to invest $50 million in its Moraine, Ohio, assembly plant and will bring in a new vehicle, the Saab SUV. Production will start next fall under the terms of the agreement. All 4,000 IUE-CWA members work at the Morraine 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 pacts bring members a $3,000 signing bonus, improved cost-of-living protection, and base wage increases of 2 percent in 2005 and 3 percent in 2006.
Both agreements offer 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 each December for retirees, starting this year.
Both companies pledged to consider endorsing the Kennedy-Miller Employee Free Choice Act that would reform federal labor law by requiring cardcheck elections and employer neutrality in organizing campaigns.
Ratification votes are to be concluded by Nov. 24.