August 24, 2007
Bargaining Update: 08.23.07
First of all, thanks to the many people at World Financial Center who gave the bargaining team a loud, rousing sendoff as the bargaining committee walked into the latest bargaining meeting Thursday morning, August 23rd: the latest reminder of the need to reward Quality People with a Quality Contract.
We gave the company a new off-the-record proposal Thursday, and the company promised to respond at our next meeting, September 4, the day after Labor Day. We still have a significant distance to go to close the gap that remains.
We gave the company a revised on-the-record proposal and a new counter proposal on health care premiums last week. These do not represent our final position by any means, and we have told them we are prepared to move if they're prepared to move.
The purpose of the off-the-record talks is to float ideas more freely, and we can't share the details of those talks yet. But we want you to see our latest on-the-record proposal, so you can see some of the movement we have made.
To try to reach a compromise, we have cut our wage proposals and said we would pay significantly higher health premiums, but we are sticking to our demand that raises cover the cost of inflation and of the higher premiums.
It is important that we— each and every one of us— continue to demonstrate to current management— and the incoming bosses— how serious we are about a Quality Contract.
As always, feel free to send along your questions and comments.
Steve Yount
President
Jim Browning
Bargaining Committee Chair
IAPE CWA 1096