Thu, Apr 21, 2005
Union Workers Want An End To Wage Concessions
Throught thick and thin, good times and bad, New Piper Aircraft
and its workers have muddled through. There was the economic slump.
Then there were the hurricanes (yup, plural). But now, that
solidarity is being put to the test.
"We've never done this before, but it's time now," said Long, a
40-year Piper paint shop employee and chief negotiator for the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. "We
need a contract." He was quoted by the Vero Beach Press
Journal.
Long was one of about 125 Piper workers picketing the Vero Beach
factory Wednesday. But only after their shifts ended -- they didn't
take time away from the job to register their displeasure.
In spite of the gesture, the mood inside Piper headquarters was
somber.
"Piper and the union have agreed not
to negotiate this in the press. We decided to negotiate during our
sessions; that was one of the rules of the negotiations," Piper
spokesman Mark Miller told the Press Journal. "It appears that the
union has decided to break that agreement and we are very
disappointed."
Negotiations between the machinists' union and Piper management
have dragged on for a year-and-a-half now.
"They took away six percent of our pay two years ago and we want
it back now," said Hoa Vu, a six-year assembly parts employee at
Piper, also interviewed by the Vero Beach newspaper. "I am a single
mom and I pay $400 a month in dental and health care. I need help
big time."
Talks resume May 2nd.
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