Summary of Coca-Cola Refreshments Tentative Agreement
Following a 27-day unfair labor practice strike, Teamsters Local 727 reached tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with Coca-Cola Refreshments on Tuesday, December 29. Upon ratification, the agreement will cover all 319 production and warehouse workers and transport drivers in Niles and Alsip. No longer will there be separate contracts for inside and outside job classifications.
“After roughly nine weeks of contract negotiations and nearly a month on the picket line, our hardworking members at Coca-Cola Refreshments now have a contract they can be proud of,” said John T. Coli, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 727. “The union and the Bargaining Committee strongly endorse and recommend this contract.”
The contract vote will be held at noon (12 p.m.), Sunday, January 10, at the Teamsters Local 727 Meeting Hall, 1300 W. Higgins Rd., Suite 114, Park Ridge, IL 60068. If members vote to ratify the contract, they will secure all of the wages, benefits, retro pay and protections contained therein. The tentative agreement includes:
Wages
• Wage increases are retroactive to May 1, 2015 and are compounded each year
• 3 percent increases in the 1st year
• 2.5 percent increases in each of the 2nd and 3rd years
• General Laborers must receive 50¢ per hour wage increases each year of the contract, regardless of percentage-based increases
• Additional one-time raise of 50¢ per hour, effective April 1, 2016, for all Production Mechanics, Refrigeration Technicians, Cooler Movers and Field Service Installers
RATES
• Transport Drivers will transition from trip rates to hourly rates and will receive all rights of hourly employees, including adjustments to overtime compensation
HEALTH CARE
• All employees will be enrolled into Coca-Cola management’s HSA health care plan
• Under the new plan, bundled rates for medical, dental and vision insurance offer workers loweroverall premiums per week, including:
– Employee Only coverage: $15.69 per week, down from $22.50
– Employee + Spouse coverage: $55.62 per week, increased from $45
– Employee + Unlimited Children coverage: $38.77 per week, down from $80.50
– Employee + Family (spouse and children) coverage: $74.77 per week
• The HSA plan includes new tiers for Employee + Children and Employee + Family to offer workers more options and cost-savings
• Coca-Cola will contribute $200 per single employee and $400 per employee family each year to workers’ HSA savings plans; employees may spend this to reduce their deductibles
• Each year, employees may unbundle packages to remove dental or vision coverage and further reduce premiums
RETIREMENT
• Company-sponsored pension plan to be frozen
• All workers vested in pension plan will keep their pension credits
• New 401(K) retirement plan will be established and Coca-Cola will match 50% of worker contributions up to 10% of any given worker’s total income
PAYROLL, VACATION & ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
• Preservation of weekly payroll
• All employees will be allowed to use five (5) days of vacation in single-day increments
• Bereavement leave to include step-parents
• $100 annual allowance for employee safety shoes
• A new committee of mechanics, union representative and company representatives will jointly create all questions and requirements for future mechanics testing
WORKING CONDITIONS
• Preservation of 40-hour workweek guarantee
• Improved grievance procedure and just cause progressive discipline
• Volunteer sheets posted for overtime; after sheets are exhausted, mandatory overtime would be offered first to the most senior workers and then assigned in reverse seniority
TERM
• Three-year contract (May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2018)
Category: BEVERAGE, Union News
