The parties came to a final tentative agreemnt on 8-25-2009 6PM.

It has been a long hard road but we think we have a agreement that the membership will be comfortable with. Below is a summary of events that have transipred in the last couple of months. More details will be distributed to the membership at their work locations.

On June 15, 2009, the Local 1900 membership overwhelmingly rejected the first Tentative Agreement. We heard you and returned to the table to obtain a second Tentative Agreement. While we were able to obtain many changes, the second Tentative Agreement was rejected. Although rejected by a small margin, the membership spoke. We went back to the table to address your concerns.

Some of the key changes made at the second round of talks (in the second Tentative Agreement) from the initial Tentative Agreement include:

• A large number of jobs with increased pay grades;
• Cap on medical costs in the first 2 years of the Contract;
• Sunday Premium – while still reduced, not nearly as much as in the initial Tentative Agreement;
• Strike/Lockout – the notice period was reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, which is consistent with the current Contract termination period;
• Distribution Designer A’s will be grand-fathered at their current rate;
• Callout Incentives have been reinstated;
• Standby changes have been eliminated; and
• Change of Schedule provisions will revert to the current contract language.

We were able to achieve the following changes in the third Tentative Agreement:

• 4-10 Agreement – deleted; parties revert to whatever departmental agreements exist today and no unilateral implementations.
• Reopener language – clarified that only the Union can open on wages and the company can open on “health care” if and only if major federal legislation on national health care is passed that is likely to adversely affect company costs;
• Leads – obtained commitment from company to maintain same number of Leads in occupational groups where grades were increased.
• Sick Leave – restoration period reverts back to 17 weeks.

Since the rejection of the first Tentative Agreement, we have made great strides in obtaining an agreement that is more consistent with what the membership deserves. This is the Company’s Last, Best and Final offer.

We realize that there are some issues that were not obtained in this negotiation. Although we fought hard for all issues, some we di not get. While the Company would not move on some issues, the Union also would not budge on others, such as, pension benefits, job inequities and job security. We have asked the International for authorization to strike if the Company’s Last, Best and Final offer is rejected. The ballot will allow you to choose between accepting the offer or striking. In order to strike, we would need a unified membership, because without solidarity, the Company would truly win this battle.

Based on the surveys, emails and phone calls we received, the membership said the following issues were a priority: pension plan, job security and pay inequities. The pension plan has no changes to it and the job inequities were addressed. As to job security (12-1/2 year clause)we retained this and received a guarantee of, at least, 120 new employees. Therefore, we achieved our primary objectives. We also improved wages and benefits for all employees. In addition, we rolled back many of the adverse changes that previously affected new hirees.

Full packages of the agreement will be handed out at the worksites tomorrow 8/27/09.
We will have informational meetings on September 1,2 and the vote will be on September 3rd.