Following more than a year of failed negotiations, unionized workers at Madison’s CUNA Mutual Group plan to strike Friday if they don’t see sufficient progress this week.þþOne of the biggest employers in the area, the company has sought to reduce health insurance and pension options since it began negotiating the next three-year contract with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39 in February 2022. The union includes around 450 of the roughly 1,750 employees at the Madison office.þþUnionized workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices on April 19, alleging that the company illegally fired its chief steward and was refusing to bargain in good faith.þþThe authorization, which allows union leadership to call a strike if they deem it necessary, expires Friday. It’s the first such vote since CUNA Mutual workers unionized in the 1940s.þþ“At this time we have not seen the movement we need from (CUNA Mutual) to avert an unfair labor practice strike,” union leadership said in a statement to members Friday. “After much consideration, and with respect to the needs of our membership to properly prepare, our bargaining committee is officially calling the Unfair Labor Practices strike to begin Friday, May 19th, if we cannot reach a fair agreement with our Employer by then.”þþ“We have been without a contract for more than 400 days,” said Sarah Larsen, an administrative support specialist and member of the union’s bargaining committee, in the press release. “We’ve tried by every means possible to negotiate and move the company towards our members’ core priorities. We can honestly say we have exhausted every option and a strike is the only thing left to do.”þþDays after the strike vote, the company requested the help of mediators from Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, the country’s biggest conflict resolution agency. Mediated negotiations are scheduled for this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.þþWhile both parties have agreed to mediation, the union has criticized the company for not meeting more frequently ahead of the strike deadline. In a May 4 press release, the union said the mediator recommended that the two parties meet as often as possible before the strike deadline, with or without mediators, in order to avert a strike. The union said its representatives were available to meet on 10 days, while the company offered to meet only on the four days when a mediator would be present.þþ“We offered to meet virtually, during the workday and on the evenings and weekends without bargaining pay for all 10 days,” chief steward Joe Evica said in a press release.þþThe company remains “fully committed” to reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the union, CUNA Mutual spokesperson Barclay Pollak said in an emailed statement, noting that the company is willing to schedule additional mediation sessions.þþ“We are determined to reach a fair and market-competitive agreement that meets the needs of our employees, our customers and our company,” the statement said. “We have an 80-year relationship with the union, which has been part of our history and will be part of our future.”þþCuts proposed amid record profitsþOne long-standing point of contention in the negotiations is CUNA Mutual’s plan to eliminate its HMO health insurance option and freeze its pension plan so that new employees won’t be eligible.þþThe union has blasted the company for seeking to reduce employees’ benefits even as the company is drawing record revenue. In early 2022, at the same time the company was proposing cuts, it issued a press release touting its 2021 numbers as its “strongest business and financial results yet,” with $5 billion in revenue, $622 million in net income and $36.7 billion in assets under management. In 2022, the company broke its record yet again, bringing in $5.2 billion in revenue.þþThe union also says the company has refused to adopt its proposals to study and promote pay equity and diversity within the company’s ranks, or to prevent further outsourcing. It accuses the company of weakening worker power by outsourcing or hiring contractors to fill positions that would otherwise be represented by the union, or transferring work to CUNA Mutual offices that aren’t unionized. The union’s membership has shrunk by about 75% since 20 years ago, when it included around 1,650 workers at the Madison office.þþThe company declined to answer questions on the record about its proposals.þþThe union has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, and those cases are pending. 
Source: captimes.com
