Members of Local 208 in Vermont and Local 1008 in California will begin working for a new federal contractor, IT Coalition (ITC), on February 1. ITC presently employs UE members at Local 808 in Lincoln, NE. The handoff in contractors occurs while UE’s SCA Service Center locals are working under the threat of increasing automation, which could decimate bargaining unit work over the next three years.
The award of ITC’s contract was announced in late November. Locals 208 and 1008 approached ITC in early December and demanded that the contractor negotiate with them prior to February 1. The coordinated bargaining committee first met with ITC in mid-December and again on several dates in early January. On January 16, the locals signed off on bridge contracts that maintain the predecessor agreements, with no concessionary changes, until May 31, 2023.