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Master Agreement Negotiations Will Determine Our Pay & Benefits
Our Master Agreement with IP expires in 2023. That means our future wages and benefits are on the table as we begin bargaining this year.
The Master process unites all the USW locals at 16 IP mills under a single Master Agreement to ensure we all get a fair deal regardless of size, location or where we fall in the bargaining cycle.
Bargaining together gives us strength when we’re sitting across the table from the largest paper company in the world and gives us a much better path to success than try-ing to bargain wages and important benefits by ourselves.
Representatives from every mill’s local will participate when we’re bargaining major issues. This is a process we fought for in the USW Paper Sector for decades in order to pre-vent the company from singling out one local and then trying to force everyone to accept what happens there.
We all benefit from successful master negotiations be-cause what happens now will determine our future pay and benefits.
How do Master Agreement negotiations work?
Delegates from each local union along with USW Paper Sector leaders and staff serve as the IP Council Master Bargaining Committee. The Bargaining Committee de-velops our bargaining agenda and represents the voice of the membership at negotiations.
Both the USW Bargaining Committee and IP manage-ment draft and discuss proposals, caucus (meet sepa-rately), make counter proposals, test ideas and look for ways to bridge differences.
The goal is to reach an agreement that’s beneficial to members and acceptable to the company.
How is the Master Agreement ratified?
The IP Mill Council Master Bargaining Committee makes a recommendation regarding a tentative agreement (TA). Then union members in good standing may vote to ratify or reject the TA.
When do we see the benefits of the Master Agreement?
Most of the provisions of the new master agreement will apply when your local contract expires. In the meantime, you’ll still get the annual wage increases and benefits that are guaranteed to you in our current agreement.
In some cases, the Bargaining Committee may strategi-cally negotiate certain items like benefit improvements to take effect sooner. If that happens, you’ll be notified by your Local Union when and how those changes will take effect.
What all this means is that while your local contract may not expire immediately – everything we negotiate now will impact you when it does, so we have to stick to-gether through these Master Agreement negotiations!
USW Local Contract Expirations
- Georgetown, S.C.; Locals 377, 378; 5/31/2023
- Selma, Ala. (Riverdale Mill); Locals 1441, 1444; 11/5/2023
- Vicksburg, Miss.; Locals 1080, 9-00618; 9/26/2024
- Valliant, Okla.; Local 13-00162; 10/31/2024
- Prattville, Ala.; Locals 462, 1458, 1978; 11/1/2024
- New Bern, N.C.; Local 1167; 2/5/2025
- Savannah, Ga.; Local 9-00795; 5/31/2025
- Cantonment, Fla. (Pensacola Mill); Locals 444, 1561, 9-00447; 6/30/2025
- Cayuga, Ind. (Newport Mill); Local 103-1; 7/14/2025
- Rome, Ga.; Local 804; 8/31/2025
- Pine Hill, Ala.; Locals 336, 339; 10/4/2025
- Franklin, Va.; Local 1488; 12/31/2025
- Bogalusa, La.; Local 13-00189; 7/31/2026
- Orange, Texas; Locals 1398, 13-00391; 7/31/2026
- Riegelwood, N.C.; Local 9-00738; 9/8/2026
- Campti, La. (Red River Mill); Local 13-01331; 11/15/2026
