One of the most important benefits of coming together with your colleagues to form a union is gaining the clarity and security of a union contract.
The IAM has thousands of contracts across North America that cover hundreds of thousands of members. It was requested that we share a few aerospace contracts that workers negotiated with their respective employer.
Collective bargaining is a process through which the workers and employer exchange proposals, share ideas, mutually solve problems, and reach a written agreement. Negotiation committees are made up of the workers. Please remember that each contract is different because the negotiations are between the employer and the workers at each location. The goal of each negotiation is to come to an agreement that benefits both parties.
The process is slightly different from company to company and industry to industry, but here’s what’s involved:
Workers elect their negotiation members, who work with IAM staff. The committee will be responsible for surveying and holding proposal meetings with members. Those issues, ideas, and concerns brought forward by coworkers will determine the topics most important to the majority. Proposals are drafted and passed at the negotiation table by the Negotiation team. Your coworkers will sit across from management with your group’s proposals. During this time, both sides discuss and start to form the contract language utilizing what you have today and moving up from there. The union bargaining committee may request additional relevant information from the company to substantiate any of the employer’s claims, such as the impacts of various proposed changes on profitability.
When the employer determines that they have discussed and reached tentative agreements on issues most important to you or determine they have reached the threshold of bargaining in good faith, they will present their best and final offer to the bargaining unit. You will always have a say on whether to accept the tentative agreement. A contract is not in effect until the membership has voted to ratify the tentative agreement into a binding contract.
When has the company ever placed something before you to approve? Negotiations is the new dynamic that benefits you!
Hopefully the posting of contracts provides insight into how a contract is structured and the benefits it provides both in and outside of the workplace. Let’s build something everybody can appreciate at Micross Components.