www.goiam.org |
High Stakes in Safeway
Strike The dispute against Safeway-owned Vons, Kroger-owned Ralphs and Albertsons is at the center of a frenzied effort by employers nationwide to find ways to pass double digit increases in health care costs on to employees or to eliminate the critical benefits entirely. The striking grocery workers in California are asking union members across the country to join the struggle and help them win this important fight by not shopping at Safeway Supermarkets during the strike. It’s time to do everything possible to make sure the outcome of this fight is a win for workers and a warning to greedy corporations that working families will not allow health benefits to disappear from the American workplace.
To send a fax to
Safeway CEO Steve Burd or make a donation to support striking workers, go
to
http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/jobs/groceryworkers.cfm. Under terms of the bipartisan deal, struggling airline and steel companies would be allowed to fully fund their employees’ pension plans using a modified payment schedule that takes into account the bankruptcies and slow recovery in those industries.
The Bush
administration said it would “strongly oppose” the relief proposal,
designed to address the ballooning deficit at the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corp. (PBGC), the federal agency that insures pensions for 44 million
Americans. Without help, as many as 20 percent of defined benefit pension
plans are at risk of being frozen or terminated, according to Sen. Ted
Kennedy, a sponsor of the bill. By reinvesting in American industry and infrastructure to build a new, energy efficient economy, the Apollo Project could generate more than three million jobs in construction, manufacturing and industrial machinery. The IAM and a coalition of sixteen other labor unions has endorsed the plan. “Wasting money on tax cuts for the wealthy won’t help average American families find good jobs,” said IP Tom Buffenbarger. “We’ve said all along that investing in North America’s infrastructure is the fastest and the best way to create good jobs and get the economy back on track. The Apollo Project is a good start.”
For more information
on the Apollo Project, go to
www.apolloalliance.org
Anyone can vote.
Simply click
http://www.laborstart.org/lwsoty/ballot.shtml to bring up an official
ballot and then scroll down to the IAM’s site to register your choice for
the only website completely dedicated to the needs of more than 700,000
active and retired IAM members and their families. Voting will end on
Saturday, January 31, 2004, at midnight GMT. Results will be announced on
Sunday, February 1, 2004.
Under the previous UTC
Senior Executive Severance Plan, top executives at the company were
eligible for cash payments equal to three times salary and bonus;
accelerated vesting of stock options; special retirement benefits and
continuation of other fringe benefits. Critics charge the UTC package
rewarded executives regardless of their performance and threatened to
penalize shareholders and employees with the cost of the plans. The newly
adopted plan sets more stringent limits on benefits payable to executives. The IAM servicing agreement, which calls for negotiation of the workers’ next collective bargaining agreement, will be in effect until the IAMAW files for certification with the Québec Labour Board. IAM Business Representative Yves Raymond will represent the new members. The vote for the servicing agreement comes after Normand Neas, president of IAM Local 1660 in Lachine, Québec, contacted Gérald Tremblay, District 11 Organizer to set up a meeting with the leaders of the independent union and the IAMAW. For more information, click http://iamaw.ca/releases/2004/04_01_23_GE_techs_e.html. |