Piedmont Bargaining Update for August 2017

The CWA bargaining team met on August 14 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to work on counter proposals we received from the company during our last round of bargaining. We also worked on our economic package. On August 15-17, we met with the company’s bargaining team to continue working towards a fair and equitable contract for you. Over the course of the three days we focused on our economic package. 

The company presented counter proposals on Article 24: General and Miscellaneous and Article 27: Part-Time Employees. In both of those articles there are a few sticking points tied to economics. The union passed counter proposals on Article 10: Uniforms along with new proposals on Article 13: Compensation, Article 17: Benefits, and new articles on Definitions, Scope, and Differentials. The union's proposals would provide a significant increase in wages as well as ways for our members to earn additional differentials for handling additional job duties and responsibilities. 

As expected, the company wasn’t prepared to answer our proposals on the economic changes. Our next round of bargaining with the company is scheduled for October 10-12. We expect the company to have a comprehensive response to our economic proposals when we resume bargaining.

During bargaining we once again discussed the grievance that was filed on uniform allowances. We are aggressively trying to settle the grievance. However, we will need some help from you, the members, to compile the damages. We will have a survey out within the next week for the members to let us know if they suffered damages and didn’t receive their proper uniform allowance over the last couple of years. Due to the length of time it takes the company to do an audit on each individual, we feel it is important for us to do our own and not simply rely on the company’s information. 

In unity,

Marge Krueger, Chair
Paul C. Castaneda, Co-Chair
Keith Richardson, President, CWA Local 13345
Anthony Barden, President, CWA Local 3645
Rick Brower, President, CWA Local 7040