Geenen reports and looks to future

Meeting with GP local union representatives in Pittsburgh prior to the USW Paper Bargaining Conference, International Vice President Jon Geenen gave an overview of bargaining and peered into the future.

“What happens at one local affects what happens in another local – no matter what union.”Geenen said.

“After 25 years of bargaining concessions,” he said, “We’ve made progress in paper. “We can’t simply look at bargaining as setting a date 60 days before contract expiration and scheduling a meeting,” he said. “That’s not how bargaining occurs. It is an exercise of building power.

He gave major credit to locations that were out in front in bargaining, with their memberships fully engaged and standing in Solidarity. “Building Power from the ranks below with full commitment of resources from the top is what it takes to achieve victory,” he said.

“We were losing the right to bargain collectively over health care,” he said. “Now we do not sign contracts where we do not have that right.

“In 2004 we had less than 50 successorship contracts and now we have 500.

“Where we had 75/25 on health care, we got employees backup to 80/20.

“Attacks on our defined benefit pensions have stopped.

“The frameworks (broad parameters of allowable agreements) are not the end game,” Geenen said. “As we develop the GP Council, it calls for rank & file leadership.

“Our biggest victory is that we’ve influenced the process,” he said. “We’ve changed the way GP bargains.”

Looking to the future, Geenen reiterated, “We will rebuild this council, coming out stronger. There’s enough leadership roles to go around for many rank & file members to get involved.”