Union To Picket CUNA Mutual

MADISON, Wis. - (09/07/04) -- Hundreds of CUNA Mutual Groupemployees are expected to recommence picketing the company'soffices her Wednesday, ending a cooling-off period between thecredit union insurer and the local 39 of the Office andProfessional Employees International Union. The union has beenwithout a contract since March 31 and the two sides remaineddeadlocked on numerous issues, including the length of the workweek, outsourcing, and pay. Meantime, a group of professionalemployees, calling themselves CUNA Mutual Group Employees Want toWork, filed a petition last week with the National Labor RelationsBoard seeking to create a separate bargaining unit within the OPEIUfor about 600 white-collar employees of the company. The unionrepresents about 1,400 of the company's 2,600 Madison-basedemployees.