Over Memorial Day weekend, Wabtec put an ad in the Erie Times-News newspaper urging union leaders to come to the table with their proposals. Wabtec forwarded a statement to Trains, which the company says it has shared with union leaders and the Erie community at-large.
“Throughout discussions, we’ve continually shared sobering facts with the Union that labor costs at the Erie site are the highest among all plants owned and operated by Wabtec, and stand firm in our belief that a competitive market-based wage structure is the best strategy for preserving production jobs and bringing new work and employment to the Erie plant.” Wabtec says that they are committed to the Erie Plant but want to see the labor situation there stabilize.
Wabtec’s proposals include: An average wage of approximately $35 per hour for all current employees; new hire wage rates in excess of $22 per hour; no mandatory overtime; and overtime premium pay after eight hours and double-time after 12 hours above a standard Monday to Friday work week.
Wabtec officials also say they’ve proposed boosting health and welfare benefits as well as a 3% retirement (401K) company and matching contribution. This was proposed in a 5-year contract.
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America Locals 506 and 618, whose members work at Wabtec, are opposed to the two-tier wage system that Wabtec proposed for their plant. They have indicated that those recalled from layoffs would be forced to come back at a lower wage.
Fifteen other proposals by Wabtec were also being resisted, ranging from increased managerial oversite, hiring of temporary labor and contractors without union involvement, to safety officer installment through competitive bidding. Union members pointed out that it is much more than just two-tier wages involved with the proposals.
In their eyes, these changes would harm the quality of work they perform and the safety culture in the plant. Some members themselves have voiced their concerns over social media that these concessions will do little to preserve the plant and its future in Erie.
Wabtec indicated that work would be sent to other facilities during the last strike making these moves ominous as to what is to come. Union leaders say that if Wabtec is willing, negotiations could extend past the June 3 deadline.
Union leaders have organized an informational picket at the gates of the plant to support their side of the bargaining on May 29.
They are trying to break the Union.
I can’t say I follow the claims of the two sides or of the comment thread below. All I can say is this: I’m heartbroken. American locomotives whether GE/ Wabtec or Progress Rail are the envy of the world, class piled on top of class, quality piled on top of quality. Will we lose this?
The article above is dated by recent convergence of both sides. The company has proposed an 18 year period for new hires to reach parity with current employees. The original company demand to have up to 20% increment of temps has been reduced to 10% The original co. demand to have no personal time has been recinded and a 3 day allowance proposed.
A Federal Mediator has been involved in recent talks and has been an effective agent for reasonable proposals by both sides.
An agreement by 6-3 is achievable if recent progress continues. With a comfortable order book, a strike is not in anyone’s interest. The 9 day strike and today’s 2PM to 4PM informational picket show the union’s stance.
The company has proposed a 16 to 22 dollar wage scale for Erie for new hires. . WABTEC is offering $24.47 for assembler/welders in Ft. worth. Consistency? The real issue is the labor cost/unit of saleable product, not the hourly rate as such. Each locomotive built at Ft. Worth has an added cost of about $300,000 above nominal cost , the allocated cost per unit of the factory cost and equipment ($350 million, $50 million to purchase the 10-year old warehouse and $300 million to rebuild and equip it). The “investment” in a redundant facility may eventually be recovered but it’s going to take a while–a long while.
WABTEC was approached by the union several times last Fall with proposals to extend the existing GE contract pending negotiation of a new contract with WABTEC. It was ignored. About 10 days before the sale closing, WABTEC issued a ukase demanding, in effect, that the union roll over and die. That ignited the strike/lockout. The company agreed weeks ago to the current legacy wage scale for current employees. . How it intends to generate wage savings is a mystery absent a large number of new hires under a revised wage scale. The company’s posture of delay and confrontation has hopefully muted as the deadline looms. Agreement is within reach if good faith bargaining continues.
Union is being stupid as usual, Wabtec already stated recalled workers would NOT be paid at the lower rate, they aren’t new hires, that would contractually be illegal unless it stated recalled workers could be paid at the lower rate. As for some of the other stuff mentioned…most of those things are the new standard in American industry and work forces…they need to get used to it or risk losing all of their jobs when the plant is closed.
Get it over with. Shutdown the plant and move the work to Ft. Worth. Those who want to come along can do so if they want and if there is work but the rest will be done.