After three months of bargaining, warehouse Local 6 workers finally got a contract. The three-year deal provides $2 worth of wage increases: 70 cents the first year, 60 cents the second, and 70 cents the third. The agreement covers ten Bay Area ILWU houses and 650 members. Workers ratified it July 14 and got retroactive pay increases back to May 31.

The ILWU and Teamsters bargain the master agreement jointly with the Industrial Employers and Distributors Association.

    “Our negotiations usually begin in April and are wrapped up by the time the contract expires at the end of May,” Local 6 President Efren Alarcon said. “The sticking point this time was medical benefits. The employers were only willing to pay a certain amount, and insisted that members pay anything beyond that.”

    Workers were able to maintain their level of medical benefits, but with a co-payment that maxes out at $50 per month. The bargaining team negotiated a pension increase of five dollars a month per year of service. When they retire, members will receive $55 per month for each year they worked, starting next year.

    The union was able to maintain a medical trust fund that will cover retirees for several more years medicals, but the employers refused to provide any long-term medical coverage for retirees, effectively ending retiree health care when the fund runs out.

—Tom Price