Labor-management bargaining in 1992

Monthly Labor Review, Jan, 1993 by Michael H. Cimini, Susan L. Behrmann, Eric M. Johnson

Once again, the Boeing-Machinists agreement was not expected to set a pattern for settlements at other aerospace companies involved in the industry's 1992 bargaining round. (The 1989 Boeing-Machinists accord had been the industry's first lead-off settlement in 50 years that did not set a pattern for subsequent contracts.)

Contract talks began in August to replace the 3-year collective bargaining agreement that was to expire in October. After 2 months of intermittent bargaining, the parties reached agreement on a 3-year contract which called for:

* a lump-sum payment in the first year equal to 12 percent of an employee's annual pay for 1992;

* wage increases of 3.5 percent on October 4 of 1993 and 1994;

* continuing the cost-of-living adjustment provision;

* establishing a two-tier wage system with lower rates for new hires in the six lowest level job classifications, but an increase in rates for new hires in the four highest level classifications;

* maintaining fully paid health care coverage for employees and theft dependents, but modifications in group benefits;

* a new referral service with a network of preferred providers for the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, and eating disorders;

* increasing the employee copayment for prescription drugs;

* a 5-year recall period for employees with 3 or more years of service who have been downgraded or laid off;

* a 7-year period for downgrade tights for employees with 5 or more years of seniority;

* a 5-year period for lateral transfer return rights for employees with fewer than 5 years of service; and

* downgrades and layoffs based on seniority order for employees with 1 or more years of seniority, and by division or branch seniority order for employees with less than 1 year of service. (See Monthly Labor Review, December 1992 p. 53, for additional details of the terms of the contract.)

In October the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association began negotiations with Boeing on contracts covering 28,000 scientists, engineers, and technical employees. The union said wages, cost-of-living protection, medical benefits, and job security are major issues in the contract talks. In late November, tentative agreements were reached between the parties, but were rejected by the rank and file.

Telephone industry

One problem facing unions involved in collective bargaining in the telephone industry was the difficulty of conducting successful strikes, given the nature of the industry. Because the industry is highly automated and has a large management work force, a strike would have to last several weeks before there would be any significant deterioration in customer service. Although several strike deadlines passed during contract negotiations between AT&T and six regional Bell operating companies and their two major unions (the Communications Workers of America [CWA] and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers [IBEW] the unions chose to avoid strike action, departing from the 1989 bargaining strategy, when work stoppages preceded four settlements. Instead, the unions used a corporate campaign, urging AT&T customers to switch to other long-distance carriers. In the end, the unions received acceptable economic terms, and the companies got the flexibility they needed to stay competitive in the rapidly changing industry.