For more information, contact: Luis Mendoza (USW) – (540) 962-4971
PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced that Region 11 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has dismissed claims filed by Covington Paperworkers Union (CPU) that MeadWestvaco bargained illegally with the USW as a “minority union” when it negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement with USW and USW Local 8-675 and that the Company was obligated to bargain with CPU.
The members of USW Local 8-675 in Covington, Virginia ratified the new contract with MeadWestvaco on July 1, 2009.
At that time, USW International Vice President Jon Geenen, the union’s top official with responsibility for paper bargaining, pointed out that the overwhelming ratification vote itself should end any speculation about which union is best suited to represent the hourly production and maintenance employees at the mill.
The new agreement included $2,600 in cash bonuses and over 16% in general wage increases over the course of its six-year term. Improvements to the defined benefit pension plan will raise the monthly pension multiplier to $58 per month for each year of service, meaning that an employee who retires with 30 years of service would receive a monthly benefit of roughly $1,740 per month, a high-water mark for workers in the paper industry.
Geenen also called on the CPU to end its obstructionist campaign against the USW and instead work with the USW members and officials to make their shared workplace safer and more productive.
The USW represents about 1.2 million active and retired members in the United States and Canada in a wide variety of industries, ranging from paper, steel, tire and rubber and other manufacturing environments to the public sector, service and health care industries.
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