MADISON, Wis. — On Monday, dozens of CUNA Mutual Group employees took to the sidewalks to strike over alleged unfair labor practices.
CUNA Mutual consists of 4,200 workers; about 1,700 of them working out of Madison.
The strike began on Friday, as 450 Madison-based workers took to the streets asking for job security, fair compensation, diversity and inclusion, no cuts to retirement benefits and that Chief Steward Joe Evica be reinstated.
“We recognize this situation may present questions to our customers, business partners and community. We have business resiliency plans in place to ensure uninterrupted service to our customers while we continue negotiations with the Union," a spokesperson for CUNA Mutual Group said.
According to the National Labor Relation’s Board, union representatives have been attempting to negotiate a new contract since Feb. 2022; the strike is a result of those "failed negotiations."
The union has filed six times with the NLRB. Kathryn Bartlett-Mulvihill, president of OPEIU Local 39 — the union representing striking workers at CUNA Mutual Group — said the company has failed to negotiate on all of those occasions.
“So we have been 14 months without a contract. We have numerous ULPs. So what this is, is an unfair labor practice strike,” said Bartlett-Mulvihill. “It is also about not bargaining in good faith; there really had been surface bargaining for almost 14 months and right now we only tentatively have three more dates between now and the end of the month to bargain.”
The company said it is meeting with the union this week.
“We continue to meet and exchange proposals with the union, including meeting this week. We are determined to reach a fair and market-competitive agreement that meets the needs of our employees, our customers and our company," CUNA Mutual Group said in a statement sent to Spectrum News 1.
Bartlett-Mulvihill said no bargaining had begun as of Monday and union members are planning to strike until Thursday, and possibly longer, if their demands are not met.
“Depending on how the employer moves this week, will also determine if membership needs to do more actions and they are currently contemplating that because the employer seems to not want to do anything,” said Bartlett-Mulvihill.
A spokesperson for CUNA Mutual Group said the company has "...provided proposals that address the issues and have continued to make changes to move toward an agreement with the union.”
The company went on to say that it has worked with the union to address major issues such as wages, health insurance, remote work and retirement.
Bartlett-Mulvihill said the employees' needs have not been met and thinks CUNA Mutual Group should take her union more seriously.
“Employees decided it was well worth it to sacrifice their salary because they are fighting for something more,” Bartlett-Mulvihill said. ”The employer should not take that lightly, if they are willing to give up their pay in order to tell the employer we are serious, the employer should be taking notice.”
Elizabeth Kidder has been working at CUNA Mutual Group for six years and just bought a home last year. She said making the decision to strike was a tough one for her, as well as some other workers who rely on their paychecks to pay bills and take care of their families.
“It was hard; you don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know how long even we are going to be doing the strike. It could be longer,” said Kidder.
Kidder said the uncertainty is leaving her and her family feeling anxious and worried about the future.
“It is tense; it really is tense. It is scary, is the best way I can put it,” said Kidder. “My husband asks me everyday how I am doing, how I am doing mentally with all of this, it is a lot of stress.”