For the unions, the pact would represent the first time in 15 years in which a contract did not include at least a one-year wage freeze.
PAGE A9 Judge Rejects United Pact A judge rejected a contract between United Airlines and its pilots' union, saying the pact forced other unions to let United terminate their pension plans.
The pledge was a side agreement to the free-trade pact with the United States that was essential to securing union acquiescence to the pact, as well as the votes of Congressional Democrats.
Many opposition parties, professional groups and unions have criticized the pact as a giveaway and argue that the money helping Cuba would be better spent on schools, sewers, hospitals, roads and wage increases for Venezuela's 24 million people.
The first contract ever negotiated between a postdoc union and a university, at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) in Farmington, took 7 months from the union's certification to the pact's ratification and noticeably improved postdocs' working conditions and incomes.
Mr Malema did stumble onto the truth about Marikana, particularly when it comes to the pact between trade unions, business, and ANC elites.
Under the pact with the ver.di union, Allianz pledged that there would be no compulsory layoffs through 2009, two years longer than originally planned, but that it would go ahead with reducing its work force.
The union said members would vote after reviewing the pact over the next few weeks.
In ratifying the deal, the strikers acted against recommendations made by leaders of their union local, who had objected strongly to the pact.
In recent weeks the government has come under Russian pressure not to sign the pact, but to join a Russian-led customs union with former Soviet states instead.
