CUNA Mutual Reaches Deal On UnionContract

MADISON, Wis. - (06/09/05) -- A 15-month labor dispute at CUNAMutual Group appeared near an end this week when the credit unioninsurer and its employees union, the Office and ProfessionalEmployees International Union, Local 39, reached a tentativeagreement on a new four-year contract. The president of the OPEIU,Michael Goodwin, is scheduled to meet later this week with PeterHurtgen, new chief labor negotiator for CUNA Mutual, to hammer outdetails of the pact, which would cover major issues at impasse,including outsourcing of jobs, wages and hours, and pay the union's1,360 members retroactive pay raises going back to the March 31,2004 expiration of the last contract. "We're optimistic that we'regoing to have a contract by the end of the month, ratified andeverything," John Peterson, chief negotiator for the union, toldThe Credit Union Journal. Sydney Lindner, spokesman for CUNAMutual, also expressed optimism that a final agreement is imminent."There is still work to do, and in the near future, CUNA Mutual andOPEIU will resolve the details," she said.