Delta Dental Clerical Workers Expected To Vote on New Contract Agreement on Monday; Strike To Continue
About 1,000 Delta Dental Plan clerical employees in Northern California plan to vote Monday on a tentative contract agreement, but a strike that began last Friday will continue over the weekend, the Sacramento Bee reports (Rapaport, Sacramento Bee, 7/25). The strike began after the clerical workers, represented by Teamsters Union Local 856, rejected a contract that Delta offered two weeks ago. The contract would have increased workers' salaries -- currently between $11 and $15 per hour -- by 18% over the next four years (California Healthline, 7/22). The new contract proposal includes an 18.5% wage increase over four years, with an "immediate" 6% raise after the workers approve the contract, and clarifies a new policy that allows clerical employees who have worked 40 hours in a week to earn overtime pay for Saturday shifts. Teamsters Union negotiators plan to "unanimously recommend approval" of the contract. Michael McLaughlin, a business agent for the union, said, "The union feels that based on the circumstances, this is the best deal they are going to get without a prolonged strike" (Sacramento Bee, 7/25).
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