Oil service industry helicopter pilots in the Gulf of Mexico andAlaska, members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 107 employed by Bristow LLC, have voted to ratify a three-year agreement covering 235 pilots.

The agreement comes after 18 months of negotiations and was ratified by 84.3 percent of the voting members.  The secret ballot ratification vote was conducted by Survey and Ballot Systems.  The agreement is expected to be signed soon, and will be retroactive to March 26, 2012.

The new agreement provides for 4 percent wage increases each year of the contract, a total of 12 percent over the life of the agreement.  Substantial improvements were also made to contract language, making it much easier to understand and interpret, “which we believe will result in fewer grievances in the future,” said Local 107 President Pete Catalano.

“This was a very amicable negotiation,” Catalano continued.  “This is our fourth contract with Bristow, and we’re pleased with the results and look forward to continuing to work with the company to best represent our member pilots.”

OPEIU Local 107 is affiliated with the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (PHPA), a council within OPEIU, bringing together all of its 3,000 helicopter pilots with one voice.

ABOUT PHPA
The Professional Helicopter Pilots Association International (PHPA) is a professional, non-profit organization dedicated to improving air safety and protecting the interests of commercial helicopter pilots. PHPA promotes industry professionalism, education and training, and encourages professional helicopter pilots, the military and civilians of all flying disciplines to join together to represent and enforce the high standards, ideals and goals of the profession.

ABOUT OPEIU
The Office and Professional Employees International Union represents more than 108,000 members in the United States,Puerto Rico and Canada. OPEIU represents employees and independent contractors in banking and credit unions, insurance, higher education, shipping, hospitals, medical clinics, utilities, transportation, hotels, administrative offices and more.

Professional organizations and Guilds affiliated with OPEIU are a diverse group that includes physicians, pharmacists, chiropractors, appraisers, podiatrists, clinical social workers, hypnotists, teachers, minor league umpires and helicopter pilots