Summit County Labor News

Up 23.5c Pay
Boost Won by
Bottle Union

The Glass Bottle Blowers and the Glass Container Manufacturers Institute have agreed to a two-year contract calling for a 6.5-to-13.5 cents an hour wage increase the first year and a 7-to-10-cent range in the second.

The new agreement covers 8,000 union members employed in the "forming department" of the nation's major glass container plants. The institute represents 25 companies operating 79 plants representing about 95 per cent of all glass container production in the country.

The contract replaces a three-year agreement which expires on March 1.

The GBBA will negotiate separately with the companies for production and maintenance workers outside the forming department. A regional bargaining session is scheduled on the West Coast.

The new contract was announced jointly at a press conference in Bal Harbour, Florida by GBBA President Lee Minton and Abner J. Martin, director of labor relations for the GCMI.

Negotiations for a new contract started in December.

The system of industry-wide bargaining for the skilled workers covered by the contract has been used by the industry and the union since 1902. There never has been a nationwide strike under this procedure.

Minton termed the agreement the "best contract" ever negotiated with the industry and said that in addition to wages and other adjustments important progress" has been made in setting up machinery for an on-the-job training program for journeyman operators and an apprentice training program.

A significant feature of the contract is agreement for the first time on machine classification which means that operators manning high-speed bottle-making machines will be paid a higher scale to reflect additional skill and effort.

The basic minimum wage for operators under the new contract is $2.29 an hour, up from $2.195. This base rate is supplemented by wage incentive programs in effect in the industry. The $2.29 scale applies to the lowest-rated machines and reaches up to $2.51. In other skilled classifications the scale goes to $3.05 per hour.

The contract calls also for an additional paid holiday—the day before Christmas—and improvements in vacations and overtime payments. It provides an increase in employer insurance contributions in the second year and improvements in the pension program.