GP Union News August 2009

GP Union Conference Sets Plan for Workers’ Advancement
P-Pay Issue, Union Communications, Action Plan Discussed & Debated

Georgia Pacific local union representatives met in Pittsburgh August 4 to address issues of importance to hourly workers at mills and converters, and to craft a strategy to best represent union workers at GP.

USW Int. Secretary Treasurer Stan Johnson and Vice President Jon Geenen kicked off discussions about ongoing negotiations with the company at different locations and the union’s overall program to strengthen the workers’ hand in dealings with management. With assistance from USW Strategic Campaigns Dept. staff, delegates reviewed the latest economic information about the company and industry, and talked extensively about health and safety issues at the plants, and the union’s duty to safeguard workers on-the-job. USW President Leo Gerard spoke about the proven advantage of union solidarity in paper shops, and ways to strengthen the voice of industrial workers from coast to coast.

Hot topics included management’s inconsistency in issuing performance pay, or “P-Pay” and Spot Pay, local management issues, and company negotiating tactics. There was recognition that the work of GP union members to establish our current Bargaining Framework with the company – setting minimum standards throughout the unionized GP system – which has stabilized income and employment for thousands of hourly workers through the GP Union Conference Sets Plan for Workers’ Advancement current economic downturn. The conference also helped cement bonds with allies and other unions around the world, such as UNITE, the USW’s United Kingdom (UK) merger partner in Workers Uniting, which also represents paper industry workers employed by multi-national corporations. A presentation by Craig Foster a UNITE member from GP’s mill in Lancashire , UK, gave concrete meaning to global solidarity among workers.

Based on discussion among union workers here and at GP regional meetings, a working group drafted a set of immediate objectives for the bargaining council:

• Establish a continuous, accessible, and comprehensive membership education program for the bargaining conference.
• Build/restore a culture of solidarity among locals in the Koch/GP conference to prevent problems like “whipsaw,” where one local is played off against another to reduce pay, benefits and other conditions of employment.
• Increase bargaining coordination and provide solidarity and support for USW members in sectors that are not currently covered by a framework.
• Develop an effective communication system for the union members in the Koch/GP conference and beyond.