IUE-CWA Members Ratify Contract with Defense Contractor

Members of IUE-CWA Local 82130, along with IBEW Local 1805 members, have ratified a new contract after over 500 of them attended an impromptu mobilization meeting to crank up the heat on defense contractor Northrop Grumman. In Baltimore, Md., IBEW, SEA, and IUE-CWA were in coordinated bargaining with the company, though each had separate contracts and concerns. 

At the economic portion of the negotiations, the company was refusing to raise wages adequately, prompting an informational meeting for members of both IUE-CWA and IBEW. Hundreds of members showed up for the IUE-CWA/IBEW meeting, while SEA, due to scheduling conflicts, held its own meetings with similar turnout.

Members agreed that a clear message needed to be sent from the workers to the company. After the meeting and during the next day, members plastered the facility with messages of solidarity for their bargaining team. In response, Northrop Grumman set up a webpage to convince workers their wages were adequate and also to threaten workers with termination for any strike activity. Members, however, kept up their pressure, and it worked.

On September 6, members voted to ratify a new six-year contract. Highlights include four percent wage increases per year totaling 24 percent over the course of the contract and two weeks of paid caregiver leave, as well as an improved bereavement policy. The new contract covers janitors, test technicians, and inspectors.

 
In an incredible display of solidarity, over 500 members of IUE-CWA Local 82130, in conjunction with IBEW and SEA workers at a Northrop Grumman factory in Baltimore, Md., successfully mobilized to pressure the company to resolve outstanding wage issues during the bargaining process.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.