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But this is only the opening act in terms of major US labor contracts.
An additional 700,000 union members in key industries could receive new contracts next year, possibly after a strike.
Each of these unions wants not only lucrative contracts, but also significant changes in labor laws and guarantees of job security, as layoffs will be difficult to avoid.
Here are the most important upcoming deals:
United Parcel Service
A majority of Teamsters rejected the last UPS contract in 2018, but current union president James Hoffa was able to agree to the offer, citing insufficient participation to trigger a strike.
O’Brien often talks about the $300 million strike fund he raised to pay members.
O’Brien told CNN Business earlier this month, “Do our members want to strike every day? I say no. But are they fed up? Yes, they’re drunk. Whether there’s a strike or not, that’s entirely up to the company. We’re going to use whatever we can to get our members the contract they deserve.”
UPS said that the two parties could come to an agreement and that the company had been operating since 1997. He said he hoped to avoid the first national strike. And it’s adding workers, including 72,000 new ones. Union members – Since the pandemic began, other unionized employers have been laying off workers.
“We seek a contract that delivers wins for our employees and allows UPS to remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry,” the company said in a statement this month. “We believe we will find mutual understanding with the Teamsters and an agreement that benefits everyone involved.”
Teamster drivers and package delivery workers at UPS are covered by a different labor law than that governing the railroads, so the government does not have the same power to prevent strikes as it does with railroad workers.
Airline
Airlines are the most unionized industry in the country, and those unions are among the most powerful. It’s been months, and in some cases years, since the airline union’s nearly 200,000 members last gathered.
The airlines are covered by the same labor laws as the railroads, which means the agreement does not expire at any time. They will be “improved”. When they finish their term and no contract is reached, the existing contract will last for as long as it takes to strike a new one.
Members can quit, or the administration can lock them out, after a 60-day cooling-off period after federal mediators declare a dispute over the talks. At that time, the President’s panel will come up with recommendations.
If a strike or lockout begins, it ends when the two sides reach an agreement or Congress intervenes. Airlines negotiate with their respective unions, so the strike would only stop one carrier, but even that would be a nightmare for the traveling public.
As a result, union leaders do not know when their members will receive a new contract. Some are waiting since 2019.
“Air travel is back…. I think it’s the right time [for new contracts]”Workers want better wages and better working conditions,” said Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department.
Car makers
Since then, there have been no garden closures. In fact, the automakers have invested ten billion dollars To build new plants or convert old ones from traditional gas powered cars to electric vehicles.
But that shift to EVs makes future conversations difficult.
It takes 30% less energy to make an EV than a traditional car or truck because so few parts are needed to make them.
That’s a big concern for the unions whose members build engines and transmissions. Earlier this month, more than 1,000 UAW workers at the Stellants Casting plant in Kokomo, Ind., walked out over the weekend over “environmental issues,” allowing them to strike without triggering a company-wide shutdown. Stellants settled quickly because the parts of the plant made other plants work.
But that settlement doesn’t address the question of what the shift to EVs will mean for unions going forward.
That is sure a A big issue in the upcoming jobs talks, said Bernard Swicky, director of research at the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank. “The proposed conversion to EVs is a big deal,” he said.
Swicky thinks the UAW wants to press the issue in this round of negotiations until the transition to EVs is more advanced.
“Sorting the EV battery factory union probably makes this the most interesting set of negotiations since the bankruptcy era,” Swicky said, referring to GM and Chrysler’s 2009 reorganization and new deals across the automaker.
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