ECONOMY'S UPTURN, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT EMBOLDENS UNIONS.Byline: Justin Hyde Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. This Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. , thousands of workers will mark the holiday either on strike or thinking about walking a picket line. Labor experts say despite agreements like the contract reached between Boeing and its machinists earlier this week, unions are growing more aggressive and more willing to walk out. Nine straight years of economic growth, a string of high-profile strikes, and a chance to win back concessions from past contracts have put pressure on negotiators to bring back good deals. ``We can be an example to the labor movement,'' Bill Johnson Bill Johnson may refer to:
The Boeing machinists had struck twice during the previous three negotiations, including a 69-day walkout in 1995, and appeared to be ready to walk out this year. Instead, about 61 percent of the 44,000-member union voted to approve the deal. The contract offers two annual wage increases of 4 percent and a third-year 3 percent raise, as well as a 10 percent signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join that company. These are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive to the employee e.g. if the annual salary is lower than they desire. worth $4,400 to the average machinist. In addition, Boeing dropped demands for a seven-day workweek and more worker contributions to health-insurance premiums. Peter Feuille, head of the University of Illinois' Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations industrial relations pl.n. Relations between the management of an industrial enterprise and its employees. industrial relations Noun, pl the relations between management and workers , said the Boeing contract was an example of unions taking advantage of the booming economy. ``Employers are having a hard time finding enough employees, so this is an opportune time to push up wages in the trenches,'' he said. But other recent contracts agreed to by union leaders have been rejected by members who want better deals. About 6,100 of 11,000 flight attendants at the St. Paul St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery , Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp. voted last week to reject a proposal that would have raised their average pay by 14 percent. And this week, about 9,200 teachers for Detroit public schools Detroit Public Schools (DPS) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is 116,800. went on strike, rejecting their leader's request for a contract extension. One Northwest flight attendant who campaigned against the contract said his colleagues wanted to break a pattern of concessions to the company. Attendants took pay cuts for three years beginning in 1993 to help keep Northwest out of bankruptcy, and wages are now only 3 percent higher than before the cuts. ``All kinds of things have evolved to make this a position we've never been in before,'' said Andy Damis of Seattle. ``We've got a tight job market and the pilots went on strike last year, so we think Northwest is really reluctant to go through that again.'' The strike last fall by 6,200 Northwest pilots was part of an overall increase in work stoppages, including strikes and lockouts. The U.S. Department of Labor said there were 34 major stoppages, each involving 1,000 workers or more, that affected 387,000 workers last year. That's up from 29 major strikes in 1997 that idled 339,000 workers. ``The work force can look back at a time where they gave concessions or took profit sharing profit sharing, arrangement by which employees receive, in addition to their wages, a share of the net profits of a business. The purpose is to give them an incentive to increase their output through enhanced morale, less wasteful use of materials, better care of ,'' said John Revitte, a professor at the Michigan State University Michigan State University, at East Lansing; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855. It opened in 1857 as Michigan Agricultural College, the first state agricultural college. School of Labor and Industrial Relations. ``Meanwhile, in the last couple of years they've seen incredible CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. compensation packages and mergers. In some of those instances, the work force says it's our turn.'' It's not clear how such concerns might affect negotiations between the United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union and U.S. automakers that cover 407,000 workers. The contract between the UAW (spelling) UAW - Misspelling of "IAW"? and General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG expires Sept. 14. The union, which has released no information about the progress of the talks, hasn't held a national strike during negotiations since 1976. It has used plant-level strikes as a bargaining tool, though, the last in 1996 against GM during the last national negotiation. But Feuille said labor actions now are much less frequent than in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, where no year had fewer than 200 major work stoppages. ``There may be a few situations where unions are willing to strike more than in the last 10 years,'' he said. ``But unions have realized the strike is a weapon that can play more into the employer's hands.'' UNION CONTRACTS The status of certain contract negotiations across the United States. AUTOMAKERS: Union: United Auto Workers Companies: General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG Workers: 407,000 Issues: Job security, pay, spinoff of parts operations Status: Union expected to soon select lead company for first contract that will set pattern for others. FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Union: Teamsters Teamsters large, powerful union of U. S. truckers. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2703] See : Labor Local 2000 Company: Northwest Airlines Corp. Workers: 11,000 Issues: Pay, retirement, work rules Status: Workers rejected proposed contract last week. The National Mediation Board The National Mediation Board is a three-person board created in 1934 by an act amending the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.A. §§ 151–158, 160–162, 1181–1188) to resolve disputes in the railroad and airline industries that could disrupt travel or imperil the would have to declare further negotiations at an impasse to begin a 30-day countdown to a strike. The process could take months. TEACHERS: Union: Detroit Federation of Teachers Company: Detroit Public Schools Workers: 9,200 Issues: Merit pay, class size Status: Teachers have been on strike since Monday; schools closed since Tuesday. Little progress reported. CAPTION(S): Box Box: UNION CONTRACTS (See text) |
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