BAZETTA Kmart warehouse workers OK pact

Workers will receive $1,000 in payments in the contract's first year.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BAZETTA -- Workers at the Kmart Distribution Center here resolved issues with overtime and productivity measurements in a new contract that was approved, a union official said.
Workers voted 274-101 Sunday in favor of the three-year deal, said Carman Greene, president of United Auto Workers Local 2901. The warehouse has about 500 hourly workers.
Workers last month had rejected an extension of the previous contract and gave union leaders the authority to call a strike, but the two sides continued negotiating. They reached a tentative agreement last week.
In the first year, workers will receive $1,000 in two lump-sum payments. In the second year, they will receive a $750 payment. They will receive a 35-cent-an-hour raise in the third year.
Greene said union leaders know that the company is trying to reorganize its finances and emerge from bankruptcy court protection. It still is struggling to compete with Wal-Mart and Target, he said.
"Most people understand we are dealing with a company with a questionable future," he said.
Greene said he was happy that the company will continue to fully pay health-care premiums.
Workers were concerned about other issues besides raises and health care.
Issues resolved
They rejected the contract extension last month because they wanted to resolve their concerns about unscheduled overtime and a productivity measurement system they think is unfair, Greene said. The offer of a 10-month extension came with a 35-cent-an-hour raise and $150 signing bonus.
The new contract places a maximum limit on overtime and calls for workers to be notified one day in advance of having to work overtime, Greene said.
Workers have been angry because they had to work until their work is "deemed complete." That sometimes led to 12-hour shifts, Greene said.
Workers also don't like a 2-year-old program that measures the production of each employee. Workers think the evaluation is being done unfairly, Greene said.
The contract calls for workers to be more involved in the evaluation and for the company and union to meet to work on changes to the program, he said.
Steve Pagnani, a Kmart spokesman, said he would have to check with other company officials before commenting on the contract.
Greene said the union at another Kmart warehouse in suburban Philadelphia is still negotiating. Those workers also voted down a contract extension.
shilling@vindy.com