HEADING INTO THE HOMESTRETCH, BUT THE TRACK’S STILL MUDDY
The Guild Bargaining Committee met with Company negotiators for close to 8 hours today and made some progress addressing work rules in the Philly.com contract. The Guild was prepared to finish bargaining the Philly.com contract today except the Company came with no new economic proposal for the Health & Welfare Fund.
This was especially disheartening since at the last session the Guild left the Company with a proposal for healthcare contributions and was expecting a counter-offer. The Company even promised today to discuss healthcare economics after signing off on some Philly.com language, but when the time came, they again said they needed to speak to the healthcare consultant to obtain info they already had, and asked to push off discussion of healthcare contributions until Monday morning at 8 a.m.
The Federal Mediator has asked the Company to be prepared to stay as long as necessary on Monday to reach a deal. Only two issues remain: healthcare and seniority. If the Company moves off of its ridiculous seniority proposal and agrees to properly fund member healthcare to the degree that members will still be able to afford to work here, we believe a deal could be struck on Monday. On the other hand, the Company has not moved off of its untenable positions in 8 months.
Have a nice weekend. Happy Father’s Day.
In Solidarity,
Howard Gensler
Bill Ross
Diane Mastrull
Cindy Burton
Regina Medina
Melanie Burney
Brian McCrone
