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October 2003 IBEW Journal
While workers in the United States have been reeling from a tidal wave of legislative and regulatory proposals that threaten their rights and well being (see "The Summer of Our Discontent"), similar shock waves have been felt all year long in another forum-the bargaining table. The harsh environment for workers has had a corrosive effect on collective bargaining, undermining the basic instrument of economic security for IBEW members. Not surprisingly, the turmoil in the utility industry has spilled over into the negotiation process, but telecommunications and manufacturing have also not been immune. Citing the need for "flexibility and maintaining a competitive edge," employers are increasingly taking a hard line. Health care in particular has emerged as the biggest bargaining issue in negotiations, with companies seeking to shift costs onto workers as medical costs soar. "The situation with health care has reached crisis proportions in the U.S.," said International President Edwin D. Hill. "As more and more Americans lose their coverage, greater cost pressures are placed on existing health insurance plans, and that has put us in our current predicament. We need nothing short of a national solution to this issue." But the anti-worker atmosphere in the United States goes beyond one issue. The tone of bargaining in general this year has been more antagonistic and confrontational as the economy spirals downward. IBEW members have achieved some notable victories, but more common have been bitter stalemates that have left workers seething at their employers, especially in the utility industry. Here is a look at some of the major talks covering IBEW members in 2003.
Verizon
Approximately 22,000 IBEW members at Verizon in New England, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania (those workers who were part of Bell Atlantic before that company merged with GTE to form Verizon) reached a tentative five-year agreement on September 4 after three months of hard bargaining. The members worked without a contract for four weeks following the August 2 expiration of the previous agreement before a federal mediator helped to broker a deal. The IBEW negotiated jointly with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in the talks. Many observers of the telecommunications industry predicted a strike. Verizon made no secret of its intention to shift more of its health care costs onto workers and enhance its freedom to cut jobs. One of the most contentious issues was Verizons desire to be able to shift more work from its heavily unionized Northeast regions to areas where labor costs were lower. The company trained managers to fill in for workers in anticipation of a strike and hired some replacements as well. But through tenacious negotiation tactics backed by incredible workplace solidarity from the rank and file of both unions, the bargaining team won a contract that thwarted Verizons intentions. By the August 2 deadline, negotiators had succeeded in making enough progress that they declared their intention to continue negotiating and not go out on strike, thus not forcing economic hardship on the members and disruptions on the public while at the same time leaving Verizon holding the bill for its contingency work force. After weeks of haggling over the principle concepts and the details of the contract, the parties reached a tentative agreement that does not force workers to bear premium costs for their health insurance, protects the job security provisions of the previous contract, and wins wage and pension increases. "The contract is a solid one that many people thought we never could achieve in this climate," said Telecommunications Department Director Joseph Penna, who led the IBEWs bargaining team along with Myles Calvey, chairman of System Council T-6 in New England, and Dominic Turdo, president and business manager of Local 827 in New Jersey.
PG&E
On the other side of the country, California Local 1245 continues bargaining on behalf of 12,000 workers employed by bankrupt utility Pacific Gas & Electric. After twice rejecting a proposed contract, 9,000 workers in the physical unit voted last month on what the company termed its last, best and final offer. In the meantime, members are working under an automatic extension of the three-year contract that expired last December. The latest contract includes wage and pension increases as well as some relief on retiree medical insurance, said Local 1245 Communications Director Eric Wolfe. "Were at the end of the road, so I think members are beginning to understand they would have to greatly escalate the level of confrontation if this agreement isnt accepted," Wolfe said. The proposed five-year agreement includes wage re-openers in the fourth and fifth years of the contract. Throughout the negotiations the company has sought numerous givebacks from the union. "Generally these were fairly contentious negotiations because our members had a wide variety of issues they wanted improvements on," Wolfe said. "Overall the package was the best weve ever negotiated in terms of dollar value." After once rejecting a proposed agreement, 3,000 Local 1245 members in the companys clerical unit ratified a contract earlier this year. If the physical unit agreement is ratified, the company has agreed to apply the improvements to the clerical unit in a separate agreement. Local 1245 and the company are in agreement on a plan to bring PG&E out of bankruptcy. The plan under consideration by the California Public Utilities Commission calls for keeping the company intact and paying off all of its creditors in the wake of the states 2000-2001 deregulation crisis. |
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