Date: 12/23/2008
Brothers and Sisters,
Monday December 22, 2008, the Company and Union met to continue negotiations. Through the course of the day it became apparent to the Union Committee that the Company was moving very little on the issues and we stated that the Company may as well give us their last best offer.
At 4:33 pm the Company gave the Union their “last best offer”. The Company characterized their offer as an outstanding package for the employees, especially in today’s economy. The Company stated that the package includes significant benefit enhancements that make good business sense for the Company and for the employees.
The Company stated that they gained work rule changes that improve customer service and reliability, eliminated “un-needed” business costs, more structured training for the employees, and work schedules that enhances the employees’ quality of life.
The Company wanted to know what recommendation the Union System Committee would make to the members on how to vote on the package.
The System Committee has decided to abstain from making a recommendation on how to vote on this package and will leave it up to the membership to decide the value of the Company’s “last best offer.”
The package that you will be voting on, including the items that the parties tentatively agreed to, are items that the parties could not agree on. Some of the items that could not be agreed on include the Company’s proposal on changes to the grievance procedure (M-19), benefits (U1, U3, M45, M46, M47), Line department (M8 SL Crews, M11 Rest Time, M12 Call-outs, M14 Red Time, M17 Work Assignments), Fossil Operations (M40 In-plant Projects, M42 Control Tech/Elect Shared Work), Safety (U-38), and other proposals. M-42 also includes safety issues regarding the work that Control Techs will be required to perform. A significant proposal to the Company is M45 to eliminate for new hires their subsidy for retiree medical coverage. The Union vehemently opposed this proposal, however, the Company insisted and has included M45 in the offer.
The Union has assembled the package and it is available for download.
The Union has scheduled the vote for Wednesday January 7th, 2009.
As a reminder, the current contract has been extended until February 19th, 2008, as mutually agreed upon by the parties.
Please work safe and remember to vote on the Company’s “last best offer” on January 7th.
Respectfully, your System Council Committee
