councilor.org
| Source | D. Ohmans |
| Date | 99/05/01/21:48 |
| /* Written 4:35 PM Jun 9, 1998 by jshell@netcom.com in igc:labr.all */ /* ---------- "Westinghouse WIPP Seeks OCAW" ---------- */ Waste Isolation Pilot Project Employees Seek Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union Representation 10:17 a.m. Jun 08, 1998 Eastern CARLSBAD, N.M., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Hourly employees of Westinghouse at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) recently joined together to form a union through the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW). We want the general public to know why we felt we needed to form a union. Our employer, Westinghouse Corporation (WELCO/WID), is being sold. When we asked what was to happen to our jobs, incomes and benefits, we were given no guarantee that they would continue in their present form. We decided to ask OCAW to help us form a local union and assist us in negotiating a labor agreement that will provide contractual guarantees of job, income and benefit security regardless of which employer operates the facility. After all, everyone else who does business at WIPP has a contract; we should have one too. "In fact, we think it is even more important to our community and state that we have a contract because we are an integral part of the community," said organizing committee member Beverly Watson. "Our jobs, income and benefits enable us to raise and educate our children and keep them healthy in Carlsbad, and beyond that, many employees are looking toward retiring with dignity here," she added. "Management and Operations contractors come and go; we are here to stay." More than 140 hourly workers presently work at WIPP, a nuclear waste repository 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad. Although a wage increase is not a driving issue for our campaign, we are aware that general wage levels are below the atomic industry averages. Beyond job, income and benefit security, the other key issue is pay equity. There are numerous examples of employees doing the same job, but receiving vastly different pay. We have concluded that resolving such matters to our satisfaction -- but especially achieving job, income and benefit security -- will require us to join together with each other and with the over 5,000 employees throughout the atomic industry who compose the OCAW Atomic Council. They have successfully dealt with corporate contractors at Department of Energy atomic facilities for over 50 years, and they have the collective bargaining record and contracts to prove it. We have learned that the OCAW Atomic Council is the leader in setting labor standards for the industry. We are convinced that organizing our union with OCAW is absolutely necessary regardless of who our employer is. SOURCE Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO Copyright 1998, PR Newswire Contact: Beverly Watson, Hourly Employee, 505-236-6670, or Roger Simmons, Hourly Employee, 505-885-0032, both of the Waste Isolation Pilot Project; or Wayne Horman, Organizer of the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, 505-885-8414 |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho