Friday, November 7, 2008

Winpisinger Negotiations Class

Here's an IAM video from earlier this year of the negotiations class our negotiators went through at the Winpisinger Center. This was with a different group, but it explains the process well.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, the people have voted and we got, what they asked for. Everyone, ( the company and union ) had better rethink the 401K offer. The new politicians want to take all the money in our 401K's and bail out social security. The 401K is not a good idea, now. We are in a mess, the company does not want to pay us, and the government will now take a lot of what we make from us. Stay tuned, the future looks bleak.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad we are well prepared before we go into negoiations. I have heard that the company may play the poor pitiful me card during these upcoming talks. Saying how they are losing money and have not much to bargain with. I hope they don't expect us to shed too many tears. So to our negoiation comm. be careful not to fall for any tricks , its their fault we are in this mess.

Anonymous said...

http://www.iam751.org/2008Proposal/newfront.htm

Anonymous said...

Vought, Machinists, go back to table to try and settle Nashville strike
By BOB COX

Representatives of Vought Aircraft Industries and the Machinists union will go back to the bargaining table in Nashville next week seeking to resolve a six-week-long strike.

It will be the first negotiating session since the strike began at the Nashville aircraft-parts manufacturing plant operated by the Dallas-based company.
The fact the two sides can’t even agree on who initiated resumption in negotiations may not be a good sign.

More than 800 members of Local 735 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job after voting down the company’s contract offer Sept. 27.

Vought spokesman Lynne Warne said the company agreed to new negotiations at the request of a federal mediator but wasn’t planning major revisions to its last contract offer.

"We want to settle this strike," Warne said. "We remain prepared, consistent with our legal obligations, to meet and continue to negotiate in good faith."
Union spokesman Robert Wood said the Machinists leadership was told by the mediator that the company wanted to resume negotiations.

"We’re always willing to go back to the table as long as there is something for us to talk about," Wood said.

Vought has brought in about 500 temporary contract workers and 80 employees from other company facilities in an effort to maintain production of aircraft components for Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream and Cessna.

"We are making the majority of our customer delivery commitments," Warne said. "We’re very close to schedule."

Peter Simmons, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga., said Vought has delivered C-130J aircraft assemblies on time and "is positioned to meet future production and delivery schedules."

But Wood maintained that the company is not making deliveries. He said union members are solidly behind the strike. "They’re willing to hold out however long it takes," he said.

The key issue is Vought’s proposal to shift less-experienced workers from a traditional pension plan to an enhanced 401(k) investment savings program.
The company wants to freeze pension contributions for workers with less than 16 years’ service. In return, it would contribute 3 percent of an employee’s pay to the savings plan and match the employee’s contributions up to a total of 4 percent.

Vought employees in Dallas and Grand Prairie, represented by the United Auto Workers, agreed to a contract last year with near-identical changes in pension and savings plans.

The recent stock-market plunge reinforced the opposition of union members to the proposal, Wood said. "Trying to sell somebody a 401(k) right now, the climate just isn’t right," he said.

But Warne said the company isn’t going to relent. "Taking a different look at the pension is not going to happen," she said.

The union also opposes the company’s plan to require employees’ spouses who are eligible for company-paid health benefits from their own employers to shift to those plans.

The Nashville plant isn’t the only Vought facility feeling the effects of a strike. The company laid off 50 workers at its Charleston, S.C. plant two weeks ago due to the Machinists strike against Boeing, which curtailed work on 787 jetliners.

Warne said that although the Boeing strike was settled last week, the company did not yet know when it would resume production of 787 rear fuselage sections in Charleston.

Anonymous said...

All those scabs working inside Vought was pulled from their NC and Florida locations. Those locations were affected by the Boeing strike, so once work there picks back up Vought will be more willing to talk. Stand strong!

Anonymous said...

If the company wants to make or save money they could start by getting their money back from DBA ! That was and is one of the biggest jokes I've seen in a long time ! The company has mis-used the investors money in some of the most ridiculous ways I've ever seen and are still doing it TODAY !Then they want to turn around and take it from us ! We're not the ones making these decisions just like the one to move the plant to Dallas that cost a BUNCH of people their jobs after the investors had lost tons of money !Speaking for myself only , I will not set foot back in that plant for a 401k.I WILL GO somewhere else to work ! If Vought thinks this is the only Aircraft Plant that you can work at,they need to think again ! OH by the way, why is it that Vought pays HIGH WAGES to the job shopper management that don't care if the work is done or not and are just there for the money! You had good management that cared but they were pushed out.Maybe we should go to the investor and tell ALL that's actually going on the floor daily !!!Brothers and sisters STAND STRONG !!

Anonymous said...

Do any of you remember when Vought decided to move the plant and they sent a TEAM in from Dallas to prepare to move the V-22 jig ? They looked and measured for months and then got the jig down there and built the first unit and couldn't get it out of the jig because they didn't have enough crane height !!!This is what your dealing with ! Enough said for now!Thought ALL of you needed a laugh.I will keep ALL of you in my prayers this week ! Your OLD retired friend !

Anonymous said...

Just wait till the New Politicians start taxing Major Corporations like Vought. It only makes sense that Vought wants to push the 401K issue here. They sold it in their other facilities! Vought will pack up and go if we don't agree. With the New Politicians Taxing them, they will reduce their cost any way they can to stay competitive. Have Obama tell Vought they need to share the wealth and see what Vought tells Obama. Wise up people, lets get back to work, before they replace us all in this Right To Work State.