GMCS Editorial: Every signatory employer’s
has a statutory obligation to provide to information to a union when
requested. Equally important is the
need for an employer to respond to an information request in a timely manner.
Here is an interesting write-up by GMCS on a recent NLRB decision
reinforcing an employer’s statutory obligation to provide to information to a
union when requested and in a timely manner.
The write-up may be found here…
The union contract has expired and no negotiations are
scheduled. So what now?
The good news is that TWU Local 234 President Willie Brown
says the union has no plans to strike in the immediate future. A strike will be
"absolutely, positively our last option," Brown said during a
conference call with reporters.
The bad news is that the union refuses to go back to the
negotiating table until SEPTA delivers better data about what's driving its
need for increased healthcare contributions.
The latest contract proposal has SEPTA offering a two-year
deal with a 2 percent raise in the first year and a 3 percent raise the second
year. But that comes with a 1 percent increase in health-care contribution.
Brown has two problems with the health-care increase: The Authority didn't
include it until year three of a five-year plan in a previous proposal, and
SEPTA hasn't provided adequate demographic and claims data, he says.
"We can't negotiate in the dark," said Brown.
"Not only do we think the numbers aren’t correct, we
have opportunity to show them how to do things a little cheaper," Brown
went on to say.
SEPTA Director of Media Relations Jerri Williams said the
Authority has repeatedly shared health-care numbers with the union and plans to
deliver more information by the end of the week. That could certainly get the
two sides back to the negotiating table.
When asked if the union would accept the current deal if
SEPTA removed the 1 percent health-care contribution increase, Brown balked and
said: "We still have the pension issue." Brown contends that union
workers make less money for equal pension contributions than SEPTA managers due
to a cap. He provided this example:
If a SEPTA manager and a union worker each contribute $1,225
dollars per year to their pensions for the same amount of time, the union
member ends up with approximately $21,000 and the manager ends up with $66,125
dollars.
"How many times can I go back and tell my members
'you’ll get a pension increase next year'?" said Brown.
"This is not a private Fortune 500 company. … We are
all public employees and we draw from the same funding source," he
continued.
There's little doubt that a strike would turn public opinion
against the union, as the subways, buses and trolleys would be out of service.
But without a strike, it's hard to tell which side is winning the battle of
public opinion. Brown contends that many Philadelphians understand the plight
of the working class but he knows that inconveniencing people with a strike
would lead them to "not support you verbally."
As for an alternative, Brown said he's willing to do an
18-month contract with one wage increase, but the sticking point about health
care and pensions would still need to be resolved. While SEPTA had been
floating a five-year deal, the union requested a two-year framework.
It's easy to see that progress has been made. Early on in
the negotiations, the unions requested changes to work rules and questioned the
use of surveillance cameras, but has since taken those issues off the table.
SEPTA released a
strike-contingency plan to help people get around without buses, subways
and trolleys. SEPTA would still run its Regional Rail, CCT, Norristown High
Speed Line, and Trolleys 101 and 102. Suburban buses will also run but service
into Philadelphia will not occur.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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