Talks Continue, But APWU Instructs Lawyers to Prepare for Arbitration
Although a voluntary agreement is still possible, APWU President William Burrus has instructed the union’s attorneys to make initial preparations for arbitration. In a telephone message to union members on Nov. 29, the union president said, “We must move forward to achieve a new contract.”
The full text of President Burrus message is below:
This is Bill Burrus, president of APWU, reporting to the membership on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006. Negotiations have continued following the holiday weekend, but we have yet to find agreement on important issues of wages, benefits and working conditions. The parties are in general agreement on the provisions that must be resolved, but to date we have been unable to find common ground.
Important issues are at stake as we address the fundamental subjects of employment, and final agreement has been difficult to achieve. I have avoided setting artificial deadlines as long as we are engaged in positive discussions, but I have now directed our legal counsel to take the initial steps to prepare for arbitration.
A voluntary agreement is still possible, but we must move forward to achieve a new contract.
Thank you for calling in, and keep the faith.
The toll-free number for the APWU Contract Negotiations Hotline is 800-992-APWU (or 800-992-2798).
November 29th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
it is nice to know that after 3 months of negotiating they have come to an agreement on the Provisions that must be resolved. It took 3 months to get to that point! holy shit no wonder it always winds up in arbitration
November 29th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
It still looks like a game of chicken is being played.Both sides may fear arbitration.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Management always seems to think they’ll do better in arbitration than by negotiating an agreement, in spite of the fact that the unions have generally fared reasonably well in arbitration. There have been a few take-aways, notably when the arb allowed the TEs and cut back from 90 to 80% fulltime regular workforce. But usually the arbitrator has split the difference on pay, and has been unwilling to mess with the fundamentals of the contracts. So I’d expect not much of a raise, and possibly junior employees getting screwed, but for the most part we’ll survive largely intact. I do believe that the Democratic election victory helps the unions’ causes significantly in arbitration. After all, one of Bush’s “reform” commission recommendations was to tilt the arbitration process heavily in management’s favor.