Unionized employees of CUNA Mutual Group near strike deadline

OPEIU Local 39

Organized employees of CUNA Mutual Group are preparing for a strike as negotiations with upper management for a new collective bargaining agreement remain deadlocked.

Union leaders are seeking to gain ground on issues relating to job security, compensation, remote work, retirement security and affordable health care. Though a tentative deal has been presented to CMFG, the parties have not yet agreed to the terms of a contract.

Both organizations agreed to pursue mediation sessions through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services — which helps settle labor disputes as a third party — and are scheduled to meet Wednesday for the final discussion before the strike goes into effect. 

Leaders of the Office and Professional Employees International Union's Local 39 chapter, which represents roughly 450 staffers of the Madison, Wisconsin-based insurance provider and has worked with the company's employees for more than 80 years, announced this week that the labor organization has scheduled its unfair labor strike to commence on May 19 provided no deal is reached before then. It would mark the first time a strike has occurred in the history of the two groups.

Union members have remained active in campaigning efforts since the conversations between CMFG executives and leaders of the group's bargaining committee began in February of last year, one month prior to the expiration of the last contract. In that time, OPEIU Local 39 leaders filed six unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board on allegations of bad-faith bargaining and termination of employees — which include the April dismissal of OPEIU Chief Steward Joe Evica.

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Kathryn Bartlett-Mulvihill, president of OPEIU Local 39, explained how the decision to organize the strike is the latest in a series of initiatives aiming to underscore the significance of the union's goals to CMFG executives, which include standard bargaining sessions and informational campaigns.

"We had this long [partnership] with the employer," Bartlett-Mulvihill said. "A strike is the ultimate wielding of the hammer, so to speak, against employers to say we're very serious about what [our goals] are and we need them."

Roughly 92% of union members voted to approve the strike last month, which could initially last for one week and see employees march in picket lines outside of CMFG offices in Madison for 11 hours each day. Employees are required to render a new affirmative vote in order to extend the strike's duration.

CUNA Mutual said it is working to find an amicable resolution. "We are determined to reach a fair and market-competitive agreement that meets the needs of our employees, our customers and our company. … We have an 80-year relationship with the union, which has been part of our history and will be part of our future," the company said in a prepared statement.

The trend of labor organization has generated significant interest across the financial services industry, but has yielded mixed results depending on the institution. 

Last month, a proposal calling for the $1.9 trillion-asset Wells Fargo to institute a formal policy respecting workers' rights to organize failed to garner enough support from shareholders during the bank's annual meeting.

Other examples include frontline employees with the $39 million-asset Genesee Co-Op Federal Credit Union in Rochester, New York, and the $12 billion-asset Lake Michigan Credit Union in Caledonia, Michigan. The Lake Michigan employees successfully organized with the Communications Workers of America in January and have since been fighting to reinstate lead organizer and former member service representative Ivan Diaz.

Striking employees have different levels of job security depending on the underlying reasons for their strike.

Jessica Chang, a counselor and attorney specializing in labor and employment for the law firm Howard and Howard in Royal Oak, Michigan, explained that unfair labor practice strikers are more secure against replacement when compared to economic strikers — or those protesting solely on wages.

For union members facing a loss of work and pay, "the most difficult thing is to keep everybody at the same position with the same goals as time goes on," Chang said.

As the deadline for a new contract with CUNA Mutual fast approaches, leaders of OPEIU Local 39 are standing firm on their demands.

"CUNA Mutual has money, but we have community, we have elected officials that stand with our union and more importantly, we have the power of more than 450 union members who are ready to shut [the company] down if they refuse to negotiate a fair contract," Evica said during a press conference on April 24.