This is about union organizing, to a degree, and about collective bargaining agreements in another degree. I highlight a group of warehouse workers who just ratified a good four year contract just before Thanksgiving.
Just spreading news and views.
The holiday season is rough for a lot of unemployed or under-employed workers in the United States. It is hard to talk about the importance of organizing a union with times so tight, workers are just happy to have a job at all.
It is for this reason that when we hear about organizing campaigns (they are still going on every single day), we should support, applaud and give some praise to the workers for standing up for themselves, finally.
When workers get to a vote for union yes or no, they have most likely been faced with weeks or months of fierce anti-union push back from the company. The bosses generally hire anti-union law firms and consultants to do everything they possibly can do to the workers within inches of breaking the law. It is not a pretty picture and the labor laws of this country suck.
Equally difficult in these times is negotiating a new contract for an existing union shop. I believe that when workers ratify a new contract it is, in fact, newsworthy for this reason. Workers outside of the organized shop need to know it is still possible to stand up for what is believed to be fair and just.
Just before I left for my long weekend I found out about a group of workers at Buffalo Hospital Supply who just got done with the ratification process of a four-year contract that guarantees them monetary gains, job protection and recognition of seniority. There are 71 warehouse workers at Buffalo Hospital Supply represented by Teamsters Local 375.
Among the contract’s highlights are:
* Modest, monetary gains;
* Job protection;
* Recognition of seniority so workers can bid on jobs, and
* Limits on the number of temporary workers the company can employ.
While I don't have the specifics of the contract with me as I write, I don't think they are as critical to the importance of this diary.
The importance of this information is really to say that there is a power in a union, still ... there is power in collective bargaining, and there is a way to get a contract that works for everyone. It is important to say that no victory should go unnoticed -- and in these times, this is a victory.
Happy Holidays