USW Members Ratify First Contract with B&H Photo Video

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Dec 11, 2017, 13:53 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that about 80 members of its bargaining unit at B&H Photo Video's midtown Manhattan store have ratified their first contract with the electronics retailer.

USW District 4 Director John Shinn said that the three-year collective bargaining agreement increases wages, enhances job security and includes other provisions designed to improve working conditions for the company's hourly employees.

"After a long, difficult struggle, we are proud to say that our brothers and sisters finally have the fair contract that they have earned and deserve," Shinn said. "On top of the economic gains, the agreement gives B&H workers a stronger voice on the job than ever before."

USW international staff representative Joe Arico, who chaired negotiations for the USW, said that the contract also includes innovative language to protect the company's immigrant workers from unfair discrimination, which was one of the issues that spurred B&H employees to seek union representation in the first place.

"During the initial stages of their organizing drive, management ran a very aggressive anti-union campaign to intimidate employees," Shinn said. "Rather than turning workers against each other, the company united the workforce in solidarity with a common goal."

B&H workers at the Manhattan retail location voted in favor of USW representation in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board in February 2016. The agreement took effect when it was ratified Dec. 9, 2017, and is set to expire on Dec. 8, 2020.

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in manufacturing, metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

More information, contact: Del Vitale – (732) 287-4011; [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)