PUERTO RICO
Support high for water workers' strike
By Arturo J. Pérez Saad
Despite a daily attack by the bosses' media and multiple
marathon negotiating sessions, the Genuine Independent Union
(UIA) in Puerto Rico, as of Oct. 19, had made great strides in
its contract negotiations with the government-run Aqueducts and
Sewage Authority (AAA). The workers went on strike on Oct.
4.
It is no mere coincidence that the AAA has begun to
negotiate in good faith. Public support for the strike is
high.
The Puerto Rican Workers Central (CPT), a coalition made up
of 56 unions, has approved holding a national strike in
solidarity with the UIA if negotiations break down. It "can
come at any time," said CPT President Victor Villalba. An open
letter has been sent by the Board of Directors of the
Association of Exempt Non-Teaching Employees (HEEND) at the
University of Puerto Rico soliciting the presidents of the
Puerto Rican Chamber of Representatives and the Senate to hold
public hearings investigating the withdrawal of AAA funds from
the unionized workers' medical plan.
In July the AAA, a state-run company, had replaced the
union's health plan with a private group, Triple S, and
demanded that all health-care costs be paid by the workers, all
without the union's consent. The UIA's contract with the AAA
expired in August.
On Oct. 4 the workers went out on strike to resolve the 16
contract demands that were stalled in the bargaining, including
the most important, their health-care plan.
By Oct. 18 the AAA and UIA had been able to resolve the
majority of the 16 demands in the contract, including the most
difficult one, health care. Three clauses still unresolved as
of Oct. 19 are about wage raises and two non-economic issues,
the grievance process and union licenses.
Reprinted from the Oct. 28, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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