Engineers strike enters 12th week

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_6992636

By Martin Ricard, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 09/25/2007 02:41:33 AM PDT

SAN LEANDRO — A week after Teamsters Union members hit the streets to protest Waste Management of Alameda County's lockout of East Bay garbage workers in July, another union representing workers at a nearby San Leandro heavy-duty repair company was gathering up picket signs of its own.

Just a few blocks away from where the garbage workers had staged numerous rallies, members of Operating Engineers Local 3, which represents heavy-duty repair workers at Valley Power Systems North, began picketing outside the company.

The union called a strike over what members said were unfair labor practices and the company's refusal to contribute to the union's health plan or pension and retirement health care funds.

"All we wanted was what we had," said Local 3 member John Griffin.

Although the Waste Management lockout has long sincebeen resolved, the strike at Valley Power Systems is still going strong, entering its 12th week today.

But the stalemate between the company and the union seems nowhere near an end. Workers have been picketing outside the company every day since the strike began July 10, and both sides have yet to come to an agreement.

FULL story at link.