• The United Auto Workers (UAW)  ratified a four-year contract with General Motors Co., covering approximately 48,500 workers. The contract provides $12,500 in lump-sum payments for all workers over term, modest hourly pay increases for tier two workers hired since 2007, increases in profit-sharing payments, and expansion of health care coverage. The contract is also expected to add 6,400 new jobs in the U.S.
  • The United Transportation Union ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference. The agreement, which covers approximately 38,000 employees at various freight railroad companies, provides a 17 percent wage increase over the 60-month term, a cap on employee health care contributions, and improvements to health benefits. The other 11 unions that were bargaining with the freight railroad companies took issue with the agreement, arguing that the wage increases and changes to the health care plans were not equitable in light of the employers’ profitability.
  • The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 951 ratified three collective bargaining agreements with Meijer, Inc. stores and warehouses. The agreements cover retail store workers, distribution center workers, and employees who work in retail property management. Under the agreements, the hourly wages for food clerks could go as high as $11.15 per hour in 2015, with the distribution center workers wages potentially increasing to $17 per hour in 2015. In addition Local 951 along with Local 227, 75, and 1059 ratified a universal benefits agreement with Meijer, Inc. that covers health, pension, and other benefits.
  • The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West ratified a new three-year labor agreement with Stanford Hospital and Clinics and its Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The agreement,  covering housekeepers, food service workers, nursing assistants, maintenance workers, and technicians,  will increase wages 7.5 percent over the contract term, increase hospital matching funds for 401(k) accounts, expand worker eligibility to receive health benefits with no contributions to premium payments, and include hospital commitments to fill shift vacancies as the result of unexpected absences.
  • Seven locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) ratified an agreement with Ralphs Grocery Co., Albertsons, and Von’s supermarkets in Southern California for a three year contract, covering 62,000 employees working as pharmacy technicians, clerks/cashiers, meatcutters, and department heads. The contract provides for wage increases and preserves existing health care and pension benefits. The contract will also require employees to contribute toward the cost of health insurance premiums.
  • The UFCW Local 23 and Kroger Co. ratified, with a vote of 66 percent, a three-year contract covering 1,003 supermarket workers in Kroger stores in West Virginia and Ohio. The contract provides signing bonuses, increases wages 40 cents per hour over the contract term, maintains the fully funded defined benefit pension plan, and continues health care benefits with increases in employee premium contributions.
  • The UFCW ratified five almost identical contracts with Hormel Foods Corp., for workers at its meatpacking facilities in Austin, Minn.; Algona, Iowa; Fremont, Neb.; Beloit, Wis.; and Atlanta, GA. The contracts, which cover approximately 4,000 workers, provide for a wage increase of $1.50 per hour over the term, increases in employee contributions to health plans, and increases in employer contributions to 401(k) and pension plans.
  • The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 387  ratified a three-year contract with the Arizona Public Service Co., covering 1,870 employees, including power plant employees, line crews, and service and warehouse personnel. The contract provides a 1.5 percent wage increase retroactive to March 31, 2011, and an increase of 2.5 percent on March 31 in both 2012 and 2013. The contract will also increase the per diem allowance $5 each year for those working outside their normal geographic work area.
  • The Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace Local 2001 ratified a two-year extension to the current contract with Boeing Co. The extension provides for a 0.5 percent raise each year, an option for a performance-based raise of up to 3 percent each year, the same health care plans and benefits that are offered to non-represented workers, and increases in pension benefits from $81 per month of service to $83 per month of service.
  • In a review of its collective bargaining data compiled for all settlements through September 5, 2011, BNA reports that the average first year wage increase was 1.3 percent, compared to 1.6 percent for the comparable period in 2010. The median increase was 1 percent, compared with 1.5 percent in 2010 and the weighted average increase was 1.1 percent, compared with 1.6 percent in 2010.
  • Human Resources and Skills Development Canada reported that there was an average base rate wage increase of 1.9 percent in major collective bargaining agreements reached in Canada during the month of July. This is an increase from the 1.7 percent average in June and the 1.8 percent average in May. However, this is a decrease from the 2.4 percent average in April, which was the highest monthly average in 2011.