By Susan Zachem

Graphic Communicator photos by Susan Zachem

Leading a panel discussion from left are: attorney Lee Jackson, GCIU Rep. Thomas E. Hennigan, GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, GCIU Contract, Research and Education Dept. Director Victor Ciuccio, and GCIU Rep. Robert D. Egts.

Local GCIU leaders from across the United States met for three days in Pittsburgh in February to work on coordinating negotiations – with the International, within GCIU local units, with other GCIU locals, and with other unions.

The nearly 70 participants from 39 GCIU locals and District Council 2 that attended the biennial Coordination of Negotiations Conference split into two workshops to explore bargaining issues related to contract law, safety and health, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, the GCIU label, health care, and information gathering.

International officers and staff provided participants with an overview of U.S. and Canadian economic and industry forecasts, GCIU contract gains in previous rounds of bargaining, political action and updates in the United States and Canada, community services, GCIU label enforcement, and the importance and success of coordination.

The GCIU local leaders also heard from AFL-CIO Secy.-Treas. Richard L. Trumka and two experts who detailed the issues involved in the current debate on Social Security.

GCIU Pres. James J. Norton addresses Coordination of Negotiations Conference delegates. Seated left is GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau.

GCIU Pres. James J. Norton told participants that economic forecasts for the next two years project stable prices and strong economic growth in most U.S. regions.

Norton urged GCIU locals to pay particular attention to GCIU's four solid pension plans in the United States and Canada , the Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund, and to bargaining coordination among units, GCIU locals, other unions and with the International. "The record is absolutely clear that coordination works," he said.

Trumka of the AFL-CIO filled the GCIU leaders in on some of the federation's new directions and programs that have him "very, very excited." Rather than just reacting to the "unrelenting attacks from our enemies" that labor has endured for several decades, he said, the revitalized AFL-CIO and its affiliates have launched proactive measures that aim to make working families' issues and concerns dominant in America.

The underlying principle of all the AFL-CIO's new programs is to link organizing, political action, collective bargaining and pension and other capital strategies into a coordinated effort on behalf of working families, Trumka said. For example, he noted that organizing a larger percentage of the workforce means more clout at the bargaining table and in the political arena. More clout in the political arena translates into laws that make it easier for workers to join unions and bargain good contracts.

AFL-CIO Secy.-Treas. Richard L. Trumka, right, talks with Seattle 767M Sec.-Treas./Organizer Steven Aldrich, left, and Rochester 503M Secy.-Treas. David Wilson during the bargaining conference.

GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau said that the well-funded and low liability GCIU pension plans are a "solid tool" for organizing and a "unifying item" for collective bargaining. Pension issues also are readily identifiable to the public for outreach efforts, he noted.

GCIU Vice Pres. Leonard E. Adams, who chairs the General Board Community Service Committee, urged locals to reach out to the community through community service before they need the community's help during a contract dispute. "If you get involved in community service, you can get some good press which can help you instill some good feeling among community members toward the labor movement, and it will help you in negotiations."

Adams, who leads enforcement efforts on the GCIU label, said locals must stay alert to label violations and help the International enforce label use requirements. "We've got to enforce the label at all times," not just during bargaining, he said.

GCIU Vice Pres. James J. Cowan said Canadian locals have been sending representatives to each other's bargaining sessions with a common employer and that coordination is helping to win good agreements. He said coordination between the International and locals also have produced "a lot of optimism" on organizing in the past year, with recent organizing wins in Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, and Toronto.

Cowan stressed the importance of political action – especially electing New Democratic Party members – to bargaining and organizing by citing the anti-union rollbacks in provincial and federal labor laws by Conservative and Liberal Party leaders. He said, like Social Security in the United States, the Canada Pension Plan is under attack by conservatives who want to raise the retirement age and make other cutbacks.

GCIU Vice Pres. Garry D. Foreman said the tremendous growth in such chains as Quebecor, Mail-Well, World Color, and other large printing conglomerates makes coordinated bargaining more important than ever. "We have to do a better job in our coordination because these employers are growing, and, if we don't coordinate, they're just going to eat away at our benefits and our wages. We've got to support one another," he urged.

GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who chairs the General Board's legislative efforts, stressed the importance of political action in the United States, too, and its link to organizing and bargaining. After the newly energized labor movement helped to cut the Republicans' 22-seat margin in the House in 1994 to 11 seats in 1996 and five seats in 1998, suddenly Democrats are knocking at labor's door asking how can they help with more worker-friendly labor laws, he said. He urged local leaders to get their members registered to vote, educated on working families' issues, and active with the AFL-CIO and state federations' political action efforts.

Industry projections

GCIU Vice Pres. Paul E. Golden presented details of GCIU locals' contract settlements in the bindery, newspaper, litho/commercial, and specialty segments. Looking at industry projections for 1999, he said the highest revenue growth is expected in marketing and promotions, prepress, convenience and quick printing, and direct mail.

In special presentations on Social Security, AFL-CIO Public Policy Director David Smith and Shawn Fordham, public affairs specialist with the Social Security Administration, explained the current Social Security debate and the Clinton administration's proposals to insure its future as a universal insurance program for retirees, the disabled, and survivors.

Victor Ciuccio, director of the GCIU Contract, Research and Education Dept., outlined current trends for such bargaining-related issues as cost-of-living adjustments. He urged locals to focus on the GCIU's contract data in bargaining rather than employers' data from Printing Industries of America or the Department of Labor. PIA's and DOL's databases are only about one-fifteenth the size of the GCIU's contract database, which makes others much less accurate, he said.

Bonnie Lindsley, GCIU Data Processing director, outlined a step-by-step process that locals can use to evaluate whether they are prepared for year 2000 computer problems. She also demonstrated a prototype of the International's new Y2K-ready software that will be adapted for use by GCIU locals.

In a workshop panel discussion, from left are: GCIU Safety and Health Director Brian Bobal; GCIU Reps. Lawrence E. Peck and John T. (Sonny) Shannon, and GCIU Vice Presidents Garry D. Foreman and Leonard E. Adams.

GCIU Safety and Health Director Brian J. Bobal reviewed issues related to federal cooperative safety programs, workplace drug testing, and substance abuse.

Bobal also joined with attorney Darryl J. Anderson of O'Donnell Schwartz & Anderson in discussing the Family and Medical Leave Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. From the same firm, attorney Lee W. Jackson reviewed legal issues related to the duty to bargain in good faith, pre-strike notice requirements, and other aspects of bargaining.

Reviewing the advantages of the Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund were Charles W. Breitsman and Teresa Bauer, administrators of the fund through central data services, cds. With medical and prescription costs predicted to soar in the next few years, the self-funded health and welfare fund can help locals and employers moderate costs, they said.

Also answering questions and leading group discussions during the workshops were Adams, Foreman, Martinez, and GCIU representatives Robert Egts, Thomas E. Hennigan, Lawrence Peck, and John T. (Sonny) Shannon.