WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: United Steelworkers (USW) District 4 Staff Representative Val Thomas (on the left) and USW District 4 Sub-Director Jim Briggs (on the right) have been involved in a great number of new contract negotiations that have positively impacted the Union’s Western New York Membership in 2017.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - To say the least, it has indeed been a busy year for the Buffalo Office of United Steelworkers (USW) District 4, with USW Staff Representatives negotiating 16 new contracts for thousands of Union-represented Workers across Western New York - agreements that feature increased wages and better benefits.

“It’s ‘been one of our busiest’ (contract years) and it ‘really has been a good year - ‘one of the heaviest,’’” USW District 4 Sub-Director Jim Briggs, who also serves as President of the Niagara-Orleans AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, told WNYLaborToday.com during a recent sit-down interview at the USW’s Headquarters near the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport that also included USW District 4 Staff Rep Val Thomas.

Those new contracts range from large employers - such as Sumitomo Rubber’s Tonawanda Plant that employs nearly 1,000 USW Members (See WNYLaborToday.com’s August 2nd Labor News Report, Headlined: USW-Represented Workers At Sumitomo Rubber USA’s Tonawanda Plant Will Vote On The “Richest Contract ‘Ever Negotiated’ In The Tire Industry” Early Next Week - http://www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2017/08/02/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/usw-represented-workers-at-sumitomo-rubber-usa-s-tonawanda-plant-will-vote-on-the-richest-contract-ever-negotiated-in-the-tire-industry-early-next-week/) and at DuPont’s Yerkes Plant, also in Tonawanda, where more than 300 are employed (See WNYLaborToday.com’s September 25th Labor News Report Headlined: United Steelworkers-Represented Workers At DuPont’s Yerkes Plant In Western New York ‘Overwhelmingly Ratify’ New 4-Year Deal - http://www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2017/09/25/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/united-steelworkers-represented-workers-at-dupont-s-yerkes-plant-in-western-new-york-overwhelmingly-ratify-new-4-year-deal/) to new contracts at other employers, including Unifrax in Tonawanda, American Rock Salt in Geneseo, Aurubis Buffalo Incorporated (the former American Brass Plant), Dunkirk Specialty Steel, Buffalo area Pepsi Truck Drivers, Dresser-Rand in Olean, Whiting Door in Akron, Buffalo Pumps Incorporated, Tonawanda Coke, Riverside Chemical in North Tonawanda and Ryerson & Son, just to name a few.

Overall, USW District 4’s Buffalo Office oversees 65 USW Locals and Units, both in the Public and Private Sectors, and represents some 6,500 Members employed across the region.  USW District 4 encompasses the States of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Puerto Rico.

The new contracts range from three to five years, with yearly wage increases averaging anywhere from 2.7% to 3%.

“In ‘many cases’ wages and benefits ‘are better’ and ‘in some’ (the USW) has ‘worked to reduce the costs that our Members contribute for their health care – to the point that at Whiting Door, we educated management where we now have eliminated health care cost-sharing for our Members who are employed there,’” Briggs noted.

USW Staff Rep Thomas, whose father – Lou, served as USW District Director for years, and was appointed a Staff Rep in May, told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper that such a large number of negotiated contracts “was a bit overwhelming, but was very good for me because I learned fast” by participating in so many contract negotiations with other USW Reps.

Briggs took the time to heap praise on Thomas for the role she’s playing in so many of the negotiations: “She’s done a ‘tremendous job and she’s going to be something to see over the long term’.  Val ‘has done an excellent job and she does it from the heart.’  She ‘cares about our Members and that make a real difference.’”

At two of those USW-represented plants here in Western New York, there is more than just good contracts coming out of them, Briggs told WNYLaborToday.com.

For example, at Dunkirk Steel, a $10 million to $12 million investment to the Chautauqua County facility is being made where 250 USW-Represents Employees work.  There, those Workers are making about $27 an hour, according to Briggs. 

And at DuPont, the company is looking to hire as many as 40 to 50 new Workers, jobs that pay $17 to $24 an hour that were brought back into the Union during a recently-ended negotiation, jobs that had previously been fulfilled by an outside contractor, he added.

“That means ‘more money is going to be spent in the local community,’” Briggs underscored.

While it’s been an extremely busy year for USW District 4 here in Western New York with so many expiring contracts that had to be negotiated – including the Niagara Falls Water Board, and with “still a couple left to go,” Briggs told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper that the USW is also committed to continuing its efforts to organize Non-Union Workers who need a Union in their workplace.

“In our ‘spare time,’ we’re ‘dedicated’ to new organizing, ‘as well as negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements that are stronger and better’ for our Members.  Hopefully (Non-Union) Workers ‘see the value of what we have done.’  I believe that in 2018, the USW has a ‘real opportunity’ to ‘grow’ our Union across Western New York, ‘as well as continuing to work to solidify our base,’” Briggs told WNYLaborToday.com.