Bargaining Digest Weekly by Gordon Pavy, Feb 24, 2007

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/02/24/bargaining-digest-weekly-46/

Bargaining Digest Weekly

by Gordon Pavy, Feb 24, 2007

The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 800 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Agreement at Harley-Davidson: Some 2,800 Machinists (IAM) union members at the Harley-Davidson plant in York, Pa., approved a three-year deal Thursday that will end their strike. The contract provides for a 4 percent increase each year of the contract and stretches out some new hire progression rates. Harley and the IAM had reached a tentative accord Feb. 16. Shares of stock rose on news of the agreement with striking workers at its largest manufacturing plant in York.

Auto Industry: A top automotive economist says an auto strike is unlikely to occur in this contract year, despite the Center for Automotive Research declaring that in looming negotiations with the Big Three, wage and benefit parity with their Asian competitors must be gained in order to survive.

Ford may seek help from the UAW, asking them to accept concessions in upcoming contract talks. Currently, Ford is awash in buyouts, prompting the automaker to begin saying “No” to some offers. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told Detroit radio listeners that Ford is in great shape after recent downsizing moves amid suggestions that the company will ask the UAW for concessions in talks that start this summer.

Following the industry lead, Nissan is offering buyouts at two Tennessee factories. Nissan is believed to be the second foreign carmaker to offer buyouts and the first with a nonunion workforce to do so.

If General Motors Corp. takes over the Chrysler Group, the result is likely to hit the Detroit area very hard.

The UAW is strongly objecting to Dura Automotive Systems’ plan to pay nearly $7 million in bonuses to top executives as a reward for moving 2,000 manufacturing jobs to Mexico and Eastern Europe. Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda spoke out urging workers and dealers to focus on their jobs instead of the restructuring or merger rumors.

Newsweek published an article comparing Korean automaker Hyundai with Japanese and U.S. automakers, saying its strident unions are to blame for it lagging behind Japanese rivals.

Mining: National guidelines for determining which mining deaths will be classified as work-related were unveiled by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration but came instantly under fire for being “overly simplistic.”

Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan told reporters after a rally that the major problem with pushing mine-safety legislation is the campaign contributions politicians and leaders are receiving from the coal industry.

Organizing and Bargaining: Some 3,300 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union will be voting on a Greyhound contract offer between now and April 15.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union says that while Hershey maintains it will cut 1,500 jobs, the union was told Hershey may cut 3,000 workers.

FULL story at link.