New York City has long been known for its towering structures and the highly skilled tradesmen and women who build them. The NYCDCC is dedicated to making sure that our hardworking members continue to be the workforce that makes this the greatest city in the world—with a livelihood that allows our families to thrive here.
The NYCDCC negotiating team continues to work tirelessly on behalf of our brothers and sisters to ensure that we reach agreements that provide good jobs for our members. We are determined to reach agreements that increase wages and maintain good benefits like affordable healthcare.
Most of our members are aware that we have already reached an agreement with the Association of Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Industries. This is a contract that accounts for a huge portion of our workforce, covering about 8,000 New York City union carpenters.
“The Wall-Ceiling agreement is a huge step forward,” said Executive Secretary-Treasurer Michael Bilello. “We believe this agreement will lead to more work for our members and improve our market share in New York City.”
Some important changes to the new contract include a new manning provision and key wage increases. The inclusion of full mobility in this contract hinges on our contractors’ compliance in instituting mechanisms to improve the reporting of work hours.
Previous contracts featured a 50/50 work rule and more recently 67/33, whereby companies could hire 50% (or 67%) of the work- force from members of their own choosing. The balance of the workers were required to come as referrals from the Out of Work List (OWL).
The new contract manning provision will create new opportunities for local members and increase the contributions to our Benefit Funds. On a yearly basis close to 2 million hours are performed by UBC members from outside the NYCDCC jurisdiction. This has resulted in more than $20 million in welfare contributions being siphoned out of the Funds and reciprocated to other funds.
Incentives built into the new contract encourage the use of local members by requiring contractors to match any employee from outside of our jurisdiction with a referral from the District Council’s Out of Work list. This will lead to increased work opportunities and put us on the path toward restoring some of the welfare benefits recently cut. Also under this contract, wages and benefits will increase nearly 17% over the next five years for a full package that comes to $99.00 an hour by the end of the contract.
Another component of this new contract is a system to prevent any fraudulent activity with the reporting of member work hours— on the part of both the shop steward and the contractor. Compliance will be monitored and enforced through the assignment of unique control numbers for each jobsite. Hours worked will be entered into a password protected section of the NYCDCC website. Shop steward reported hours will be confirmed or disputed by the contractor. In the future, members will also be able to sign on to view their hours and reported history. These re- ports will be transmitted to the Funds on a daily basis.
Vice President Michael Cavanaugh stated that the daily reports will allow discrepancies to be addressed within reasonable time frames.
“This will help with accuracy, allowing workers and contractors to agree to hours worked in real time,” said Cavanaugh.
The Wall-Ceiling Agreement will soon be in effect, with the staffing provision changes currently in the process of being approved by the Federal Judge.
Our leaders are making steady progress in our contract negotiations with the Building Contractors Association, the Cement League, The Greater New York Floor Coverers Association and the General Contractors Association.
EST Bilello stated that the negotiating team is making every effort to get these contracts done as soon as possible, but is dedicated to protecting the livelihood of our members.
“We will not agree to any contract that cuts the wages of our members,” said EST Bilello, “The Wall-Ceiling Agreement is the first step. We are very close to coming to more agreements that protect our member’s wages and ensure a healthy future for our Benefit Funds.”
Our leaders are determined to ensure that we move forward with agreements that work for all sides. Be sure to check our website, www.nycdistrictcouncil.com for the latest updates!
Source: Fall 2012, The Carpenter
Friday, November 23, 2012
Contract Update
6 comments:
I would ask that if you would like to leave a comment that you think of Local 157 Blogspot as your online meeting hall and that you wouldn’t say anything on this site that you wouldn’t, say at a union meeting. Constructive criticism is welcome, as we all benefit from such advice. Obnoxious comments are not welcome.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Buisness reps are not enforcing the contracts in favor of the membership.They arent enforcing the match ratio, they are not siding with the stewards on jobs, they always take the companies side on any issue. if a member or steward has a problem on a job site they have to beg the rep to show up,but if the company calls the hall they parachute a buisness rep to the jobsite with the intention of letting the steward know they can be replaced. Its all smoke and mirrors and we are screwed if full mobility goes thru its over YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHTS!!!!! The DC wont enforce the contracts in your favor theyll just ignore you hoping youll go away. This is the reality coming smarten up now.
ReplyDeletethe ba come on the job that i am on when ever they need to be there and even some times when they are not i think if the stewards new the contracts but they dont and most off the are not even carpenters
ReplyDeletei think this is a great contract and will make us stronger if every one dose there job it will get rid off the people that dont know there job and dont want to do there job for what they are getting paid well for and we will bring back pride in this union
ReplyDeleteWe already have a building in manhattan on hudson st filled with people who dont know their job? and dont know the people who pay them(rank and file carpenters). How do we get rid of them?
Deletewe need to get our union back the way we can have a vote and vote them out and send them a message do what best for us or you are gone like we have to at work
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about. Any time I have an issue the rep usually handles it competently if not request the manager. At times I had to "jump thru hoops" to handle a situation if a solution is not clear. However as a carpenter I work professionally and rarely have any complaints from my employer on my work ethic. So these reps have never had to threaten that I am replaceable.
ReplyDelete