Unionized workers at TruStage in Madison have ratified a new contract after nearly two years of negotiations and the largest local strike in over a decade.
Office and Professional Employees Union Local 39, which represents around 450 workers at the company formerly known as CUNA Mutual Group, announced that members had voted to accept the labor agreement. The deal, negotiated earlier this month, provides new and retroactive raises and maintains pension and health insurance benefits the company previously proposed to cut.
“This agreement made progress on our core priorities, and we felt confident recommending it to the membership,” said Mike Farwell, chief steward at TruStage and vice president of OPEIU 39.
TruStage is “pleased” about the deal, according to a statement shared by company spokesperson Barclay Pollak. “At TruStage, we believe a brighter financial future should be accessible to all, and our employees work hard to make that mission a reality. TruStage is looking forward to continuing our decades-long, productive relationship with OPEIU Local 39 and their leadership.”
Demands for raises, remote work
Contract talks began in February 2022, with the prior contract set to end in March 2022. The union wanted the company to raise wages to keep pace with inflation, guarantee that it wouldn’t change remote work policies or outsource more union jobs, and stop trying to eliminate any pension or HMO health care benefits.
Within months, negotiations had grown strained and stagnant. Workers picketed TruStage’s west side offices to call attention to the fact that the company, which had seen record profits, wanted to cut workers’ health insurance and pension options.
The union also filed several charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of multiple unfair labor practices. Among other complaints, the union alleged that the company acted illegally when it fired the union’s then-chief steward.
In May, the union held a two-and-a-half week strike, the first strike in the 80 years since the office unionized. It was the largest labor action in the Madison area since the mass protests surrounding 2011’s Act 10 legislation, according to local labor experts.
The new contract, which runs through March 2028, raises pay by 15.5% retroactive to 2022 and by 13.25% over the next four years. It codifies remote work policies, which the union worried the company could change without notice. It maintains pensions, which the company previously proposed to eliminate for new hires, and maintains the company’s popular HMO health plan, which the company previously proposed to eliminate.
The contract also includes job security provisions the union sought to make it easier for union members to qualify for new jobs if their positions are cut.
Record worker engagement
Members were particularly engaged in this contract process, OPEIU 39 president Kathryn Bartlett-Mulvhill said in a press release. “This is by far the most participation we’ve had in a ratification vote at TruStage.”
Public support, including from a joint rally with other local labor groups in November, enabled the union to win the provisions it wanted, including retroactive pay increases of more than 15%, said Will Roberts, a member of the union’s bargaining committee.
“We got across the finish line with the support of the community, the labor movement, and the strength of our membership,” Roberts said.
One of the Madison area’s largest employers, TruStage provides insurance and investment services through credit unions across the U.S. Its Madison headquarters employ around 1,750 people. Twenty years ago, about 1,600 of those positions were eligible for union membership, compared with around 450 today. The union argues that the company has outsourced or contracted out around 1,200 positions in the last 20 years, cutting the number of union-eligible positions by nearly three-quarters.
The deal marks the first new contract for TruStage workers in seven years, as union members twice voted to extend their 2016 contract. It’s also likely the longest negotiation round since the office unionized in the 1940s, said Pollak, the TruStage spokesperson.
