For CDC Workers,
Paid Holiday Proof
Of Strength in Unity
WHITAKERS, N.C.
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The CDC Workers Committee/UE takes part in the annual King Day
march in Whitakers, N.C. Worker unity gained King Day as a paid holiday; the
UE committee is building for other improvements at Consolidated Diesel.
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Workers employed by Consolidated Diesel Corp. are pressing
management for wage increases and other improvements, through the CDC Workers
Unity Committee affiliated with UE. They know from their own experience that
united action can bring results.
In January, CDC workers celebrated the tenth anniversary of
their successful campaign for a paid holiday on the birthday of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
In 1990, a petition requesting a paid holiday, signed by 210
CDC workers, was delivered to the company’s Human Resources director. That
began an eight-month campaign by the CDC workers, which included buttons,
flyers and rallies, and support by other workplace committees and unions.
Workers were told the company would never agree to a paid King
Holiday; it would cost too much. But CDC workers didn’t give up. On Aug. 1,
1990 CDC General Manager Bill Miller announced the company would grant
employees a new paid holiday for King Day.
UNITY NETS MORE GAINS
That campaign inspired CDC workers to address other shop floor
issues; they won 10-minute break times in 1990, and reinstatement with full
back pay for two workers unfairly terminated in 1996 and reinstatement of
another last year.
The Unity Committee has been affiliated with UE since 1994.
In March, a delegation of CDC workers delivered petitions to
the Company Operating Team asking that workers not be subjected to personal
time off or unscheduled vacation charges for any time missed during the
Governor’s State of Emergency during the snow storm in late January.
The committee’s Unity News recently called for a 12
percent raise for all CDC workers. The newsletter pointed out that April
marked four years since the company implemented the "New Technician Pay
Plan" and eliminated annual pay scale adjustments and the nine-step
technician pay scale. The pay plan bases worker raises on managers’
evaluations, which could result merit raises ranging from zero to 7 percent.
UE News - 05/00
