PRESS RELEASE
UAW Announces Contract Gains at Johnson Controls
21 February 1997
UAW Scores Huge Gains at Johnson Controls; Auto Parts Workers Wages Up $4 An Hour
300,000 Non-Union Parts Workers are Watching Settlement Agreement
Announced Today
OBERLIN, Ohio, Feb. 21 -- The Director of UAW Region 2,
Warren Davis, announced today a settlement of the twenty-four day strike at
two seat building facilities of the giant auto parts manufacturer, Johnson
Controls, Inc. , which directly effected over 500 workers in
Oberlin, Ohio and Plymouth, Michigan. In Ohio, this strike had also shut down
the Ford Econoline, Club Van production at both Avon Lake Van Assembly and
Lorain Econoline Club Van Assembly plants. Portions of Walton Hills and other
locations in the country were also affected by the over 7,000 Ford layoffs
that occurred as a result of this strike.
The UAW victory at the Oberlin, Ohio and Plymouth, Michigan plants is seen
as a big step toward reversing the job and wage losses suffered by auto parts
workers in recent battles with the industry over outsourcing. Warren Davis
said, "While this is a huge victory for the J.C.I. workers, it goes far beyond
the borders of Oberlin and Plymouth. Parts workers everywhere are watching
this. Even though we negotiated huge packages and gains for these workers, it
should not be forgotten that they paid a great deal more when these jobs were
performed under a UAW contract at Ford."
Over the past decade, thousands of UAW parts workers earning over $19 an
hour at the Big Three automakers lost their jobs when the same work was farmed
out to non-union firms like Johnson Controls, which paid workers an $8.20 an
hour starting rate, setting the stage for the UAW's organizing and negotiating
initiatives.
Davis stated, "There are 300,000 more parts workers who need the kind of
hefty raise we gained at Johnson Controls. Just as at Johnson Controls, parts
workers all over the country need decent health care benefits and dignity in
the work place. And to win these benefits, they need a strong union which is
ready to fight for them. We proved this at Johnson Controls and the UAW will
continue to prove this wherever workers have been skinned by the parts supply
industry."
Following are the highlights of the Oberlin agreement won:
* Wages Increase 22% over three years.
* First year wage increases range from $1.22 per hour to $1.62 per
hour with the median classification $1.42 an hour.
* Pension (A defined benefit pension program ERISA approved)
* Immediate Bonus of $1,000.00 for all members
* Holidays - 45 holidays over three years - includes Christmas/New
Year's week, (Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday,
Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day (starting
1998), Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas 1997:
Dec. 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, Jan 1, 1998; Christmas 1998: Dec. 24,
25, 28, 29, 30, 31, Jan 1, 1999; and Christmas 1999: Dec. 24, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31)
* Full Life Insurance and AD&D
* Weekly Sick and Accident Benefits
* Medical, Drug and Dental Benefits
* Jury Duty Pay
* Bereavement Pay
* Increased overtime Pay
* Shift Premium for second and third shifts
* Tuition Refund Program
* Paid Prescription Safety Glasses
* One Family Event day (for birth or adoption of baby)
SOURCE UAW Region 2
CONTACT: Warren Davis, Director, of UAW Region 2, 216-447-4080