Thursday, July 21, 2005

IAM Members at UAL Ratify New Contracts

On July 21, 2005, the IAM announced ratification of six amended collective bargaining agreements with United Airlines that preserve existing IAM contracts while providing a defined benefit pension plan to replace the plans terminated by United and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Ratification of the four and a half year agreements follows months of negotiations under Section 1113(c) of the U.S. bankruptcy code and prevents abrogation of the contracts and a strike by the IAM’s 20,000 members at United.

IAM members in the Ramp & Stores, Public Contact, Fleet Technical Instructor, Maintenance Training Instructor, Security and Food Service Worker classifications each ratified their respective agreements with sixty-seven percent of all voting IAM members accepting the amended terms.

“Our negotiators were able to leverage the strength of a 98 percent strike authorization to not only reject United’s harshest proposals, but to also establish a new defined benefit pension plan for our members,” said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “Our negotiators did a remarkable job under the most difficult circumstances imaginable.”

More information about the IAM at United Airlines is available on the IAM District 141 website.

IAM Rep Brings Labor Voice to Trade Council

Governor Jim Doyle recently named District 66 DBR Rick Mickschl from Onalaska, WI to the Wisconsin International Trade Council. Mickschl, a 25-year member of Local 21, pulls no punches when it comes to U.S. jobs and international trade.

"We don't want our greatest export from Wisconsin to be our jobs," he declared, "We have to grow our jobs for the benefit of everyone here."

Mickschl recalled the corporate greed he has seen over his career as thousands of good jobs left Wisconsin for low-wage countries around the globe. He points to advantages for manufacturers who remain. "If you make it here, design it here and control it here, you are much quicker to market," said Mickschl, who praised Wisconsin workers for their work ethic, their high productivity and their ability to produce high-quality products.

Bush Pushes CAFTA as ‘Good for Workers’

In a state that lost a devastating 230,000 jobs to flawed trade deals , many believe that that CAFTA would only make a bad situation worse. Nearly 400 North Carolina textile mills have closed since 2001. Take action now to stop CAFTA http://www.capwiz.com/iamaw/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7798976.

AFL-CIO Launches New Website

The AFL-CIO launched a newly designed website at www.aflcio.org that includes features and tools to make it easy to take action on crucial working family issues. In addition, the thousands of pages of information from the previous site have been updated and made more quickly accessible for working families and their unions.

Union activists can find updates on federal and state legislative initiatives at the Legislative Alert Center http://www.aflcio.org/issues/legislativealert/ and visit an all-in-one Facts & Stats http://www.aflcio.org/issues/factsstats/ site to download PDF fact sheets and access the latest data—available by state—on wages, health care, poverty and more. The site’s Take Action page http://www.aflcio.org/network/ highlights the hottest issues and enables visitors to sign online petitions and send emails to top decision makers. At the AFL-CIO homepage, union members and leaders can directly access information on national and local unions, allied organizations and membership benefits.

Too Little, Too Late: China Revalues Currency

Under heavy pressure from U.S. lawmakers, China revalued their currency to bring it closer to the U.S. dollar. After being fixed for a decade, China revalued their currency by only 2 percent to 8.11 yuan to the dollar.

Lawmakers are expected to maintain pressure on China to further revalue their currency, which has been undervalued by approximately 40 percent. Without further movement, there will be little economic impact in the U.S.

“The most significant thing about this move is that the Chinese in effect have conceded that pegging their currency is bad for China, for the world economy, and for the U.S., and we are glad they have come to that understanding. If there are not larger steps in the future, we will not have accomplished very much. But after years of inaction, this step is welcome,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) told the Associated Press. China’s ten-year currency peg, which gave Chinese exporters an unfair price advantage, has cost the U.S. hundreds of thousands of jobs and inflated our trade deficit with China to a record $162 billion.

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