CBA Update

Last minute discussions with Local 130 have resulted in a drop of the demand for retroactive contributions.  Please note that tomorrow’s vote will reflect this change. 

The Wage Package is as follows:

1^st year                 3.25%    ($2.05)

2^nd year                3.25%    ($2.15)

3^rd year                 3.35%    ($2.20)

NOT retroactive to June 1^st.

We hope to see you at tomorrow’s Special Meeting at 8:00 a.m. at Erie Café (536 W. Erie Street, Chicago).

The PCA Labor Relations Committee met for the fourth time with the Federal Mediator today.

After the Mediator met with Local 130 he presented the PCA LRC with Local 130's FINAL OFFER.

A Special Meeting of the PCA Membership has been set for Tuesday, August 3rd, 8:00 a.m. at Erie Cafe, 536 W. Erie Street, Chicago.

There is a tentative agreement on many language changes which will be presented and we will also be voting on Local 130's Final Offer as presented in mediation on July 28, 2010.

The Wage Package is as follows:

1st year    3.25%   ($2.05)

2nd year   3.25%   ($2.15)

3rd year   3.25%    ($2.20)

The proposal will be retroactive to June 1st, 2010 and 1st year increase dedicated to the Funds.

We encourage you to attend this Special Meeting.

July 13, 2010 Negotiations Update

On Friday July 9, 2010 the PCA Labor Relations Committee met for the third time at the Federal Mediator’s office. The meeting  lasted almost nine hours, and while no final decisions or final offers were made, there were many ideas floated on both sides as the mediator went back and forth with Local 130 and the PCA LRC.

Our committee requested a membership meeting to give the PCA membership an update on negotiations, explain the Federal Mediation process and the difference between mediation and arbitration, if that step should be needed. In addition, the PCA committee felt that it would be a good opportunity to, once again, get the input of our members. This has been a long drawn out process and opinions and suggestions from our members have been very important, as we hope our updates have been as well. 

On Monday June 28^th and Tuesday June 29^th, the PCA Labor Relations Committee met for several hours with a Federal Mediator. Several ideas and concepts were discussed but there is no agreement on wages which is the only remaining issue. It was agreed to meet again with the Federal Mediator on July 9^th.

Please note, the Laborers District Council and Operating Engineers Local 150 are expected to begin striking today, July 1^st, against MARBA represented employers. No formal notification regarding the intentions of Local 130, Local 93 or Local 501 to honor any picket lines related to this situation have been received by the PCA at this time.  If one of your jobsites is affected by the strike (in the form of a picket line or other action), please be aware that if a union member from either local who is scheduled to work that day elects to not cross a picket line, the employer (contractor) is also not obligated to pay that person. The best course of action on your part is to remain neutral and let an employee make up his/her own mind.

We have been informed that the next bargaining meeting between MARBA and both union parties is scheduled for July 7, 2010. The PCA will keep you apprised of any pertinent developments regarding this situation. If you have any questions, please call the PCA office at (312) 563-9526, or direct your e-mail to dan@pcaofchicago.com.

June 17, 2010 Negotiations Update

All day meeting on June 17^th.  Discussion and TA signed on previously proposed Tentative Agreement to change language on Exclusivity.  There was also a discussion on the Service Agreement.  A TA was signed to keep the Service Agreement open for six months to continue to consider changes and improvements to help service contractors.  There were some additional language discussions and Local 130 will draw up TA’s for consideration at a future meeting.

Both sides made arguments back and forth to justify offers. The most recent offer by Local 130 was reiterated at $2.75, $2.75 and $3.00. The most recent offer by the PCA was reiterated at $0, $1.58 and $1.95.  

The PCA Labor Relations Committee, after a lengthy caucus, proposed a $1.00 increase for year one going into the Pension Fund based on Local 130 shifting $1.00 from the defined contribution or savings accounts into Pension as well. Years two and three would remain at $1.58 and $1.95, but with all three years total increases going into the funds. After a lengthy caucus by Local 130, they made a counter offer of $2.75 for each of the three years with the first year dedicated to the funds but years two and three distributions would be determined by Local 130.

At this time there is no additional meetings scheduled.

June 8, 2010 Negotiations Update

The Labor Relations Committee will meet again with Local 130 on Thursday, June 17th.  

June 4, 2010  Negotiations Update

The PCA  Labor Relations Committee (LRC) and Local 130 met again yesterday. There was a discussion about language changes proposed to the Exclusivity Section.  The original proposal was reworked and presented for discussion. Local 130 will present to their attorneys to clarify a language concern. There was further discussion on the Service Agreement with the intent of determining what might encourage more service contractors to sign and use as a tool to increase their service businesses. 

The financial proposals were discussed again at length and the PCA LRC  reiterated the offer of a one year freeze. Local 130 is asking for $2.75 first year but has offered to split it up through the course of the year and the $3.20 and $3.50 in years two and three.  The PCA presented an amended  offer from our initial offer of 0% year one, 2 ½ % ($1.58) year two and 3% ($1.95) year three based on 4.2 million man hours to the same 0%, 2 ½% and 3%  based on 2.7 million man hours year two and 3 million man hours for year three.  Mediation and arbitration was also discussed. It was agreed to adjourn the meeting with  no decisions made. At this time no new meetings are scheduled.

May 27, 2010 Negotiations Update

On May 27^th, we held a Special Membership Meeting to inform our members of all language and work rule changes discussed, and tentatively agreed too during the recent negotiations.  The PCA Labor Relations Committee, chaired by George Treutelaar, explained the several areas of the CBA that were discussed.   These included the Service Agreement and Standard Of Excellence, which were  distributed  as hard copies to facilitate our discussion.

It was reported that  on Monday,  May 24^th Local 130 held a meeting of its members to consider the PCA proposal of no increase in year one and a 2 ½% increase in the second year followed by a 3% increase in the third year contingent on 4.2 million man hours being reached. That proposal was rejected and a secret ballot vote followed authorizing Local 130 to strike.

Chairman Treutelaar presented the financial proposals that were offered and countered over the last several weeks. He explained that Local 130’s most recent offer of $2.75 the first year (into benefits) and $3.20 the second year and $3.50 the third year was what the PCA was voting on today. 

After an hour of discussion and questions, everyone was asked to cast their ballot (which was distributed upon registration).  With all votes counted, it was announced that the vote on the most recent Local 130 offer (listed above) was unanimously rejected.

PCA President Jerry Roberts concluded the meeting saying that additional special meetings will be called as soon as needed as developments occur.

A meeting has been scheduled for next Thursday, June 3, 2010 with Local 130 to continue our discussions. 

May 25, 2010 Negotiations Update

The following letter went to Business Manager Jim Sullivan in reponse to his letter dated May 19th.

 Dear Mr. Sullivan:

We are responding to your letter to your membership dated May 19, 2010 urging them to increase the already substantial number of unemployed unionized plumbers by giving you the right to call a strike.  Your letter is rife with misstatements and omissions and is an insulting disservice to your members and our employees.

The thrust of the second paragraph of your letter is that the Plumbing Contractors Association of Chicago and Cook County ("PCA") is taking the position that your members "are simply worth nothing."  But even your description of the state of negotiations, which is irresponsibly inaccurate, acknowledges that the PCA is offering significant wage increases in the second and third years of a new contract.  You then pit union member against union member by asserting the PCA is giving substantially more to union members in surrounding areas without of course stating how much those union members will be making or the circumstances under which the agreements were negotiated.  Most remarkable of all, you do not bother to tell your members what your demands are -- raises of $2.75, $3.30, and $3.50 -- so that your members can evaluate for themselves whether they think their union is on the right track in these difficult times.

Were this not in fact one of the worse recessions in our nation's history, we would be amused by the repudiation of basic economics embodied in your statement that "the cost of labor neither increases nor decreases the available work."  And we wonder whether your members, nearly half of whom are out of work, agree with your crystal ball that "the worst of the recession is over."

The fact is that the union's wage demands are outrageous and would have two adverse effects if accepted by the PCA:  a reduction of the amount of available work and an accelerated rush to substitute nonunionized for unionized plumbers to perform the work that is left.

On the issues of dwindling work and substitution of nonunion labor, your membership should know the facts:

Just a few years ago, in 2007-8, PCA members had 5.5 to 6.0 million man hours worked.  In 2008-9, the figure dropped to 4.2 million man hours.  For the twelve months ending on March 31, 2010, the hours had dwindled to 2.5 million.

As for nonunion competition, as you have stated, approximately 80 percent of permits in Chicago are for nonunion labor.  The figure for the suburbs is higher.

The third paragraph of your letter talks about benefits as if your members have their heads in the sand about an issue that is affecting every employee, every union, and every company in this nation.  Have you told your members that the United States Department of Labor has found that their benefit funds are being drained by extravagant board meetings, golf outings, and the like?  Some of these practices still continue despite objection by the Contractor Trustees.  Do your members know how out of proportion the funds' fees for accountants and attorneys are?

As for the JAB, the PCA Labor Relations Committee feels strongly that the Joint Arbitration Board should hear all violations of the collective bargaining agreement.  However, the JAB over the years has been making decisions about audits including fines, penalties and interest, which have turned it into a partisan money guzzler.  The Labor Relations Committee proposed changing the responsibility to hear cases of audit deficiencies to a subcommittee of the Pension and Welfare Funds with both management and labor trustees.  It is felt that the funds are most effected by audits and the trustees are charged with very serious fiduciary responsibilities through ERISA and could best focus on those issues:  Local 130 signed a Tentative Agreement on this proposal.

Strike talk dominates the second page of your letter.  It has been a long time since there has been a strike, and your members should be told that a strike is more than chest-thumping.  A strike means unemployment without unemployment compensation and almost certain replacement.  We wonder how long your members will be satisfied with the "$100 a day from the General Treasury of the Local for every day that Member is on strike" as they contemplate the extravagant salaries and perks you and the officers and agents at Local 130 headquarters pull down?  Indeed, in view of the miserable financial state of the union, how long will the union be able to keep this promise?

Finally, you should know better than to try to stoke your members' enthusiasm by contending that you are going to sign separate contracts with PCA members.  This is bargaining in bad faith and is illegal.  The PCA will seek all possible relief.

In conclusion, we return to the contention that the PCA thinks that your members "are not worth anything."  That is a lie.  Since 2000, the increases in wages and benefits agreed to by the PCA have totaled 56.7 percent while in that same time the cost of living increased approximately 28 percent.  Inflation is now at a 44-year low.  The PCA Labor Relations Committee in these negotiations is demonstrating that it believes your members are worth a great deal by negotiating a reasonable contract to preserve as many jobs as possible.

PLUMBING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION
OF CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY
LABOR RELATIONS COMMITTEE

Lori Abbott                                 George Treutelaar

Craig Thomas                                   Albert Gehrke

Craig Campeglia                            Jerry Roberts III

 May 22, 2010    Negotiations update.

Over the last few weeks we have been providing updates on the progress of negotiations including the financial packages being presented by both the PCA
and Local 130. These were summaries based on time allowed.

As we near the end of negotiations the PCA Labor Relations Committee has been wanting to help our membership understand the thinking that went behind some of our proposals and decisions.

As we have stated before, these are challenging times and no time for rumors, jumping to conclusions or inciting emotions when so many individual livelihoods and businesses are at stake.

Going into negotiations we had to consider that only two years ago (2007-2008) there were 5.5 to 6 million man hours worked. 2008 to 2009 saw 4.2 million man hours and for the last twelve months ending March 31st we have 2.5 million man hours.   

Non-union work has become a serious competitive issue for Local 130 contractors hiring Local 130 members. As much as 80% of permits in Chicago are non-union. And several of our members that serve as inspectors in surrounding suburbs report that many of our suburbs see 90% or more non-union plumbing companies taking out permits.

When Local 130 proposed increases of $3.30, $3.50 and $3.60 it was presented in terms of the increases the surrounding locals will see this June. As strictly a matter of fact, CBA’s with Locals 422 and 93 were agreed to in 2008 when the economy was still relatively strong as you can tell by our own man hours in Local 130. And Local 501 agreed to their CBA in 2009 when commercial work was still active and one of the largest residential contractors in the Chicago area had not yet gone out of business.

The PCA contractors have always valued their employees and when work was good and man hours increasing, the Labor Relations Committee agreed to considerable increases. Since 2000, the increases in wages and benefits agreed to by the PCA totaled 56.7% while in that same time the cost of living increased approximately 28%.

The PCA currently has 129 member firms which employ approximately 1,100  of the  plumbers currently employed which is the vast majority of Local 130 plumbers.

The economy has been in the most serious recession anyone working today can remember. Many of our contractors have gone out of business in the last two years and the remaining contractors are struggling to stay a float making  major cost cutting decisions daily and long time staff being laid off.

The following includes new items and more information on some items that have been briefly touched on in earlier updates.

The PCA Labor Relations Committee feel strongly that the Joint Arbitration Board should hear all violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, the JAB  over the years has been making decisions about audits including fines, penalties and interest. The Labor Relations Committee proposed changing the responsibility to hear cases of audit deficiencies to a subcommittee of the Pension and Welfare Funds with both management and labor trustees. It is felt that the funds are most effected by audits and the trustees are charged with very serious fiduciary responsibilities through ERISA and could best focus on those issues. Local 130 signed a Tentative Agreement on this proposal.

In the same area of protecting wages and benefit contributions, Local 130 proposed adding wording to section 6.8 allowing the use of credit cards to secure benefit obligations. The PCA  Labor Relations Committee (LRC) signed a Tentative agreement on that change.

The PCA proposed striking the requirement for contractors to use a broker recommended by the PCA for bonds. Every contractor should be able to get bonds from their own source and this was an uncomfortable position for the PCA to be in. A Tentaive Agreement was signed on this issue.

A Tentative Agreement (TA) was signed requiring future payments of fringe benefit to be paid directly to a bank lock box with details to be worked out.

The Standard For Excellence with procedures including a Discharge for Cause Form and Follow-Up Form was agreed to and a TA signed.

A TA was signed to raise the bond requirement from $70,000 to $100,000 for employers with 8 to 12 employees, from $85,000 to $150,000 for employers with 13 to 18 employees and $100,000 to $200,000 for over 18 employees.

TA’s were signed for two changes to the Service Agreement that resulted from input given to the LRC from the PCA Service contractors. 1. Employees may volunteer to participate in additional training programs offered by the employer during non-work time at no compensation  was added to Article VII.  2. Article V number 8 was changed to now read;  Whenever a plumber is placed on call on Sunday only and is not called out, he will receive compensation equivalent to two hours pay at his regular rate, without benefit contributions, for each 12 hour period he remains on call. Any negligent work performed by a service plumber/serviceman will be replaced/repaired without pay. Disputed work will be resolved through Section 3.6 of the Master Agreement.

A TA was signed for a change to Section 4.8 Staffing, Probationary Metal Trades Journeyman may be hired for  period  not to exceed 3 months (changed from 6 months) and benefit contributions will be required starting with the 4th month (changed from 2nd month)

The per day per diem for apprentices attending required additional training will go from $20 to $25

We will continue to add information on the negotiations as well as other information through the course of this process. At this time Local 130 has a meeting of their membership on Monday May 24th and the PCA has a scheduled meeting of our members on Thursday May 27th. Please make every effort to make this meeting. 
As always, feel free to call the PCA office if you have any additional questions.

As a reminder, we would ask that no one sign any interim agreements or letters of intent
as we will continue to work together on a Collective Bargaining Agreement that is fair to both the contractor and our employees.

May 20, 2010 Update

Wednesday's meeting brought additional tentative agreements on a few issues including the use of credit cards when unable to provide bonds or letters of credit to secure benefit contributions. Tentative agreements were also signed in relation to the operations of the Joint Arbitration Board.

Several hours of discussion ensued on several other issues which the attorneys will be addressing.

Local 130 amended their offer of $2.75 for the first year and openers in the second and third year. The Local 130 current offer is $2.75 for year one, $3.20 for year two and $3.50 for year three. The PCA Labor Relations Committee declined this offer and reiterated our offer of 0% for year one and based on reaching 4.2 million man hours 2-1/2% ($1.58) for year two and 3% ($1.95) for year three.

Local 130 has a scheduled meeting for Monday night, May 24th where they will present the different offers and potentially ask for a vote.

If you are a PCA member in good standing you should have received a notice for our special meeting on Thursday, May 27th where the PCA Labor Relations Committee will explain in more detail all of the word changes and work rule changes agreed to. In addition, the Committee will be discussing the financial packages and asking for a vote.

As a reminder, at this time we would ask if contacted no one should sign any interim agreement, letter of understanding or letter of memorandum.

May 14, 2010 Update

Yesterday was the sixth meeting of negotiations and it was a full day of discussions.  A Tentative Agreement was signed on the Standard Of Excellence including an implementation plan, discharge form and follow up form.  Several changes to the operations and duties of the Joint Arbitration Board were discussed at length. In Addition, collection procedures for contribution checks were discussed and some new procedures considered. It was agreed that attorneys for both management and labor would work on several word changes to the CBA.

Local 130 presented a counter proposal to the PCA counter proposal  from earlier in the week.  Local 130 is currently proposing a three year agreement with the first year at $2.75, all of which would be for the Funds. There would be a reopener for the second and third year. There was considerable discussion and points made by both management and labor and it was agreed to come back to this on Wednesday May 19, 2010.

As a reminder, at this time we would ask if contacted no one should sign any interim agreement, letter of understanding or letter of memorandum.

Thank you.

May 12, 2010 Update

The PCA Labor Relations Committee met for the first time April 29th and again on May 4th, May 7th and May 10th. In between those meetings we had additional meetings with our attorney to stay on top of the legalese, procedures, etc.

Here are several key issues that we proposed:

1) Changes to the Service Agreement to make it more attractive to service contractors to sign which attempts to help hold on to and maybe recover some of the service business. We have a tentative agreement on a few changes that we believe will accomplish this.

2) We talked at length about an implementation plan for the Standard of Excellence. We are very close to a tentative agreement and a few items are being double checked. This is something we believe benefits all of us and if used right becomes a great marketing tool as well.

3) We have talked at length about changes to the JAB procedures to make the JAB as fair as possible. In addition, we have talked about changes to the collection of benefit contributions procedure.

4) Local 130's financial package proposal:

1st year $3.30     2nd year $3.50     3rd year $3.60

Our two counter proposals are as follows:

a) 1 year contract with 0% raise

b) 3 year contract with 0% first year and, if 4.2 million hours are reached, 2-1/2% ($1.58) 2nd year and 3% ($1.95) the 3rd year

We want to inform you as PCA members where we are in negotiations and we will try to keep you informed over the next few weeks, but beyond the facts in this update we just gave you, we cannot make assumptions or guesses.

Probably the worst thing that can happen during negotiations is rumors and innuendos causing over-reaction and we ask everyone to keep this in mind. We hope you understand.

As always, we will consider any ideas or additional input from our members. Negotiations are ongoing and our next meeting will be this Thursday, the 13th.

As a reminder, at this time we would ask if contacted no one should sign any interim agreement, letter of understanding or letter of memorandum.

Thank you.

April 29, 2010 Update

The PCA Labor Relations Committee met with Local 130 on Thursday April 29^th.

After opening statements the PCA presented on implementation plan for the Standards Of Excellence and discussed this item at length.

The PCA also presented changes to the Service Agreement with the intention of making the Service Agreement more benefitial to service contractors. Considerable discussion followed.

Both the PCA and Local 130 presented numerous additional proposals. After initial reactions and discussion it was agreed to continue negotiations on Tuesday May 4, 2010.