USW’s Tentative First Contract with Tech Firm HCL Improves Wages, Job Security

Contact: Tony Montana, 412-562-2592, tmontana@usw.org

The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the union has reached tentative agreement on a first contract with Google contractor HCL America, Inc., on behalf of about 65 employees who are based in Pittsburgh.

USW International President Tom Conway said the tentative agreement represents the hope of a bright future for workers seeking to organize unions to negotiate for better pay, benefits and working conditions, no matter what industry or occupation.

“Nearly two years ago, HCL’s employees voted to organize and bargain collectively for a fair contract, and the company fought viciously against it for as long as it could,” Conway said. “Thanks to the solidarity and determination of these workers and the leadership of our committee, we have reached this important milestone of a first tentative agreement.”

Amanda Parks, a member of the USW bargaining committee who works for HCL, said that over its three-year term, the proposed contract addresses pay parity and includes meaningful wage increases. It provides additional paid time off and includes important contract language safeguards to provide job security.

“In spite of the company’s best efforts to discourage participating in the union and to avoid negotiating in good faith, we remained united to make our voices heard and demand a fair contract,” said Renata Nelson, also a member of the committee. “We work hard, and we deserve what all workers deserve, an agreement that reflects our important contributions to the company’s success.”

Beginning in October 2020, Region 6 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a series of four amended, consolidated complaints against the company which outlined in detail the company’s failure to bargain in good faith.

Among other illegal actions, the NLRB alleged that HCL had outsourced work from Pittsburgh to Krakow, Poland, in retaliation for workers voting for union representation, and the board sought to order the company to restore the work to bargaining unit members.

A ratification vote for the membership is scheduled for July 30, 2021. If ratified, the proposed contract would take effect immediately.

The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.

USW Members Support Space Exploration

Nine highly skilled USW members at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) use their expertise to help propel America’s spacecraft and rover systems across the solar system.

The members of Local 12-652 play a critical role making sophisticated tooling and producing secure shipping for the radioisotope power system, a generator with a radioactive power source, and the heat sources needed to fuel it. Eight of them work as machinists and one as a welder in the machine shop at the Materials and Fuels Complex in support of the Space and Security Power Systems Facility.

The power system runs on plutonium-238, which gives off a steady supply of heat as it decays. It’s a reliable energy source that lasts for decades allowing scientists to operate spacecraft or rover systems such as scientific instruments, robotic arms, computers, radio and drive systems.

These generators currently power the New Horizons mission to Pluto, and the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity and Mars 2020’s Perseverance rovers. These devices provide the onboard heat and electrical power for NASA’s planetary missions. 

Pictured: Employees test the latest radioisotope power system, called the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator, for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. (Department of Energy)

“It’s pretty exciting being a part of the Mars rover and space,” said Local 12-652 member Brandon Ferguson. “I can tell my family what I’ve done, and they can see it on TV.”

The USW members build specific fixtures, like the casks that ship the power systems to NASA in Florida and the heat sources needed to fuel the power systems. USW members also perform preventative and corrective maintenance.

Dr. Steve Johnson, director of Space Nuclear Systems and Isotope Technologies Division, said the space generator program involves “a great team effort and everyone contributes to the project. We count on the USW members.”

Precision required

Precision work is key to the tools the USW members create.

“We work within tight tolerances on the tools we make,” said Ferguson, an 11-year INL veteran who is a machinist and runs a dual spindle lathe with live tooling. “The tolerances we deal with are like .0005 of an inch. It takes a lot of experience to hold this tolerance.”

The machinists program and set up their own equipment and run a part from start to finish. Usually they work on one or two intricate parts on non-typical and exotic alloyed materials and non-metallic material such as graphite and plastics. 

Ferguson said it is easy to make a mistake while using these materials, and they cannot be reused if an error occurs. He said the diversity of material is a challenge, but also rewarding. 

Welding also must be precise. It requires exceptional ability to weld non-typical and exotic materials to the required specifications.  Knowing the proper distance, angle, speed, and heat to use are essential.

Ferguson and his coworkers collaborate with the engineers, who answer their questions and help them solve problems. They also suggest changes in designs for parts to make them more precise and easier to produce.

“We take pride in what we do,” Ferguson said, “and strive to be the best for all the engineering groups we work with.”

It’s Time to Pass the PRO Act! Contact Your Senators Today!

Recently, USW organizers were on the ground in South Carolina, talking to workers at Giti Tire about joining our union. Within hours, the company held mandatory meetings with the workers at the plant and sent a letter to their homes discouraging them from organizing.

We know that if labor reform like the PRO Act doesn’t happen, Giti will continue to intimidate its workers and likely retaliate or fire those who fight to get the union in.

The purposes of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act are simple: to ensure workers can push for the changes we want to see at our jobs without fear of retaliation, and to strengthen workers’ rights to form a union and negotiate for those changes if we so choose.

The PRO Act ensures that employers cannot:

• Fire and permanently replace workers who are on strike.

• Lock out, suspend or withhold work from employees to stop them from striking.

• Tell employees that they are independent contractors when they are actually employees.

• Force employees to attend anti-union messaging meetings.

• Change work conditions, pay or benefits while negotiating a union contract.

• Force employees to waive their right to collective and class legal action.

• Prohibit employees from using work computers for collective action.

Currently, there are no penalties for employers like Giti who illegally retaliate against or fire workers for collective action. The bill is necessary because our woefully outdated labor laws are no longer effective as a means for working people to have our voices heard.

This week, the AFL-CIO is holding a PRO Act week of action. Here are three ways you can make your voice heard: 

1. Click HERE to send an email to your Senators urging them to support the PRO Act.

2. Call your Senators at 877-607-0785, tell them who you are, where you are from, and that you are counting on them to PASS the PRO Act.

3. Click HERE to find PRO Act week of action events near you.

Bishop Noa Workers Ratify First Contract

Workers at Bishop Noa Home in Escanaba, Mich., ratified their first contract July 15 after a bitter, protracted battle to secure a deal.

The approximately 55 certified nursing assistants and dietary, environmental services and laundry workers at the senior living center will form two new units of Local 2-21. Members of Local 2-21, many of whom work at the nearby Verso paper mill, stood in solidarity with Bishop Noa workers throughout their campaign to beat back major concessions and finally secure an agreement.

Bishop Noa workers first organized nearly four years ago. They came to the table committed to negotiating a fair deal but were instead subjected to repeated attempts to break their resolve, including management bringing in an out-of-town union-busting lawyer who tried to bully workers into submission. 

Even without a contract, the union was able to prevent widescale layoffs over the course of negotiations and advocate for the workers during the pandemic, including securing across-the-board hazard pay.

Now, thanks to the agreement, they have a formal voice in the workplace that gives them a say in vital issues like workplace health and safety.