GP/Dixie Workers in Easton Accept 4-year Deal with Retro Pay

GP/Dixie Local 412 in Easton, Pa., ratified a 4-year contract by a 282 to 37 vote after walking a labor agreement that expired Aug. 2, 2007. The settlement improves wages and benefits while limiting employees’ cost for health care and dental benefits to 25% of the premiums.

Workers are receiving a 2% wage increase retroactive back to Aug. 1, 2007 and three more 2% general wage increases each Aug. 1, through 2010.

Employee life insurance is increased to $29,000 with the entire cost paid by the company. Additional supplemental employee life insurance up to $50,000 (in increments of $10,000) may be purchased by employees. Dependent term life insurance is also available for spouses and
dependent children with costs paid by employees and premiums subject to change on an annual basis. This may be an important benefit for those unable to qualify for life insurance under general underwriting guidelines.

Weekly S&A benefits are increased to 60% of the employee’s regular straight time rate times 40 hours.

Pensions are increased to $25 per month per year of service, and increase $1 a year until the multiplier reaches $28 in the final year. The company also agreed to add 10% to the employer’s cost of maintaining present pension levels that would have otherwise faced reductions.

The safety shoe allowance is increased from $75 to $85 per calendar year, and smoking in the workplace ends Jan. 1, 2011.

GP Fires Shift Worker for Safety Violation

A worker in Dubuque, Iowa, was fired a few weeks ago for his second violation of the lock out/tag out procedure over the previous 12 months.

He was a second shift worker who worked a lot of 12 hour shifts during his tenure.

According to company work rules in Dubuque, a one-year time frame is important because, “discipline steps become inactive after one year…”

GP employees who are written up for safety violations must be especially cautious to follow the rules, especially during the 12 months following the infraction.

While it may seem like a cloud hanging over your head, representatives of Local 1861-5 warn that discharge may result and these cases can be difficult to overturn. In this case, the worker left without asking any help from the union in regaining his job.

As all of our sites continue or go through “rapid transformation,” we need to be aware that working long hours can subject us to being disciplined for committing unintentional safety violations.

Shutdowns Upset Workers, Spotlights Need For Job Security

Union workers are increasingly concerned about the wave of shutdowns announced by GP, and responding for now by fighting for the best deal possible for workers affected by the loss of jobs.

More news has arrived about GP’s plan to shut down the plant in Franklin, Mass. On Tuesday, Feb. 19, a union delegation visited state officials to nail down additional shutdown benefits, retraining and rehiring assistance for the 30 GP workers who have already been laid off and the remaining 60 workers who will be laid off in April. The Union negotiated severance pay and family health insurance until at least June and more.

At GP’s Suffolk, Va., saw mill, the temporary shutdown is to be made permanent, leaving approximately 15 workers laid off. The USW is bargaining with the company over this action and what it will mean for workers there.

A closing was also announced at the GP box plant in Batavia, Ohio. Union negotiations over effects bargaining are completed. The plant is scheduled to be shut down April 7, 2008

Union workers are seeking a way to discourage this corporate sell off of assets. It’s suspicious how the timing of these box plant closings coincides with hints that GP is buying Temple Inland,
which has 2 box plants not far from Batavia (Middletown and Marion, Ohio) and two box plants within 200 miles of the closing GP box plant in Franklin (Spotswood, N.J. and Scotia, N.Y.)

In the meantime, the USW and the GP Union Conference have made it a priority to assist those adversely affected to help them land on their feet. While the company goes through these business transformations, union workers want to have a seat at the table when decisions like this are being made. And while protecting workers rights in regards to seniority and other job security issues, we want to persuade the company into reinvesting in GP facilities for long-term viability.

Naheola and Brunswick Reach Agreements

In light of the recent, unprecedented USW/GP framework agreement reached in large part to the ongoing solidarity at Naheola and Brunswick, the contracts at those two locations were recently settled. Here are some details -

USW Locals 950, 952 &966
NAHEOLA, ALABAMA
• Four year agreement
• Wages: two $1,000 payments for mill and converter, plus 2% and 2%
• Increases for mill job classifications
• Increase protective clothing and shoe allowance
• More retirement benefits, including full retirement at 60 years of age
• Funeral leave, add “step child” and great grandparents.
• Medical and dental plans converted to company plan 1/1/09, with employee contributions 25% of the premiums

USW Local 400
BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA
• Four year agreement
• 1st year, 2%, 2nd year $1,000, 3rd Naheola and Brunswick Reach Agreements year 2%, 4th year $1,000
• Wage adjustments up to $1.50/hour
• Family health care and dental insurance converting to company plan
• Pension improvements for both plans, up to $50 per month per year of service
• Red circled jobs continue at increased wage rates (USW maintenance workers put back in production during reduction in workforce at previous rates of pay)

February 8, 2008
SOLIDARITY!

GP Conference Adopts Groundbreaking Bargaining Framework

When Naheola, Brunswick and Cleveland entered negotiations, the Company’s bargaining pattern consisted of four year contract offers that included two small lump sums along with two-2% wage increases during the contract’s proposed four year term. The company was also advocating a corporate wide initiative to alter health care coverage to include ONLY consumer driven health care plans with very high deductibles that would only serve to limit our access to medical services. Widespread objections to the company’s proposal led to months of hard work by local unions at the bargaining table, coordinating bargaining and high level meetings that have now set the stage for a better deal at GP’s USW locations. As a result of your support and solidarity, we’ve achieved a new opportunity to establish improved contract standards.

On January 9, the GP Union Bargaining Conference agreed overwhelmingly to new bargaining standards that address concerns about box plants wages that have been suppressed for too long, but also address the need for improvement in the mill pattern as well. Most importantly, the new standards recognize the need for affordable health care, better pensions and assurances that what we bargain now will remain for the life of the contract and in place if a location is sold. Contracts failing to meet these goals will not be subject to ratification. The following basic standards will apply to contracts at mills and box plants for Agreements expiring in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Wages
Mills
** Mills in mid bargaining cycle (meaning that they have not bargained since beginning of cycle that included lump sums)—Year 1 - 2 %; Year 2 - $1000 lump sum; Year 3 - 2%; Year 4 - $1000 lump sum
** Mills, starting new bargaining cycle, 2%-1%-2%-1% at anniversary/18 mos/30 mos/40 mos.

Box Plants
**Effective immediately Box Plants 2%-2%-2%-2% on each anniversary date.
** Mills and Box Plants will receive retroactivity for timely ratification of agreements.

Health Care
**The company must not rate locations individually. Premiums to be based on claims experience of all GP employees enrolled in the same company-wide plan. For example, the current PPO will be evaluated using the experience of the same PPO plan. The GPABH plan will be based on experience of all participants enrolled in the same GP-ABH plan.
** Process for evaluating the comparability of network issues that arise from the change in plan administration and network, by exploring alternatives, including, but not limited to:
* Improving the current networks
* Securing other and/or additional network providers
* Addressing unreasonable disparities by treating out of network providers as “out of area” or
“in-network”.
** Transitioning for people who are pregnant or being treated for a serious health problem(s) to assure continuing coverage.
** Premium cost sharing - Mills at 75/25. Box Plants at 80/20.
** GP and the USW agree to explore additional incentives including a reduction of premium co-pays.
**GP and the USW agree to meet annually to review premium changes & discuss method to calculate.
**Retirees will continue to be eligible to purchase health care through the retiree medical health care plan at their own expense.

Pensions
Mills
** $50 benefit per month per year of all past and future services.
** PIUMPF (Naheola, as proposed; Halsey and Cedar Springs, to be handled comparably to Naheola).

Box Plants
**Improve by $1 per year in each year of the contract.

Non-waiver – Company must negotiate over changes to healthcare during the term of the agreement.

Successorship – Current nationwide contract language applies to all facilities, including Brewton.

January 11, 2008

USW Contract Expiration Dates at GP

GP workers across the country are facing difficult negotiations with the new GP, including GP’s
insistence on the ability to chance the health care at anytime during the agreement. The GP Union Conference adopted a program whereby workers at Georgia Pacific mills and converters, where the company has failed to make an offer that meets minimum standards, including the right to maintain the negotiated health care, are refusing to sign the sub-standard contracts and working beyond the expiration date under the terms of their extended agreements. Here is a list of USW locals whose contracts have already expired:

Location Local Union Contract Expiration
Brunswick, Ga. USW Local 400 1/3/07
Owosso, Mich. USW Local 829 2/14/07
Naheola, Ala. USW Locals 950, 952 & 966 2/28/07
Parchment, Mich. USW Local 323 3/21/07
Cleveland, Oh. USW Local 438 7/15/07
Crossett, Ark. USW Local 589 7/31/07
Cleveland, Tenn. USW Local 1337 7/31/07
Easton, Pa. USW Local 412 8/1/07
Big Island, Va. USW Local 1013 10/31/07
Mt. Wolf, Pa. USW Local 1754 10/31/07

Local Union Training Sessions On Track

Arrangements have now been made for a series of seven regional meetings with the 64 USW locals at GP during the last two weeks in January and the first two weeks in February. The focus of these regional meetings, which are within driving distance of each GP local union, is to build a stronger GP Union Conference and stronger local unions at every GP facility.

15 USW local unions facing contract expirations have already had Building Power training sessions at their locals and set up action teams. The regional training meetings will include elements of the Building Power program, but also focus on what local leaders see as most important to strengthening the workers’ position in bargaining new contracts with GP.

DATE FOR REGIONAL MEETINGS ARE:
Albany, NY 6 Locals Jan. 23-24, 2008
Little Rock, AR 13 Locals Jan. 23-24, 2008
Birmingham, AL 12 Locals Jan. 30-31, 2008
Toledo, OH 6 Locals Jan. 30-31, 2008
Columbia, SC 14 Locals Feb. 7-8, 2008
Portland OR 4 Locals Feb. 7-8, 2008
Madison, WI 9 Locals Feb. 14-15, 2008