A brief strike by Pipefitters Local 533 against the Mechanical Contractors Association of Kansas City has ended with a settlement.
The two sides had failed to reach agreement on certain health and pension issues by the time their labor contract expired June 1.Bob Looman, executive director of the contractors association, said mediated negotiations ended this week with the union agreeing to accept a restructured health and benefits policy for new apprentices only.“Everyone’s trying to be competitive,” Looman said Thursday.Mike Amash, attorney for the union, said the parties agreed to contract language stating that the union would maintain a base level of funding for its pension plan or take action to bring it above the threshold if it was to fall to the baseline.The contractors association had expressed concerns about unfunded pension liability, which the union said wasn’t likely.“Everybody’s happy to be back to work,” Amash said. Pipefitters had suspended work for a few days on several job sites around the metropolitan area.Read more Workplace
Posted on Thu, Jun. 09, 2011 11:41 PM
Share
Email
Print
Email Story
close
tool goes here
Pipefitters settle contract dispute, end strike
More News
To reach Diane Stafford, call 816-234-4359 or send email to stafford@kcstar.com.
