Are Collective Bargaining Rights a Given?

Over the past few weeks state governing bodies have begun trying to change union collective bargaining rights. Checkout this article from Stateline to get a historical perspective about these events.

"Stateline: Judging from the furor over collective bargaining that has roiled several Midwestern states this week, it would be easy to conclude that changes in union bargaining rights are rare events. In fact, though, states change their collective bargaining rules frequently, and often without much protest or even much dissent." http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=553067

Let's Do Lunch: Monday, March 7

Commerce Union Shop will have its next monthly lunch on Monday, March 7, in the large conference room on the first floor of Building #5.

We will discuss layoffs during the first half of the meeting. Other topics will be recruiting volunteers for our Communication Committee. 

Please read the Commerce Blog for more information and details.

Layoff Member Action Team Forming

Commerce is not going to avoid layoffs during this budget session.  We already know that the cuts in the supplemental budget will force Commerce to layoff a half a dozen or more employees.  Much larger budget cuts loom ahead.

The Union contract offers some protection during layoffs.  It outlines procedures that Management will need to follow.  These procedures help assure that employees are treated with fairness and consistency.  They protect employees relative to their seniority, among other factors.  If followed, these procedures will generate various options for employees so that they can avoid getting laid off.

Union leaders at Commerce are gearing up for upcoming layoffs.  Among other activities, they are forming a Layoff Member Action Team (MAT).  They are making arrangements for representatives from Union Headquarters to meet with Commerce Union members, and the Layoff MAT in particular.  These Union reps will explain in more detail what the Contract says about layoffs and the protection it offers.

For the contract to work, layoffs will need to be monitored.  This will be the job of the Layoff MAT.  It will watch to make sure that layoffs are done according to the Contract and the procedures it outlines.  If they see any violations of the Contract and established procedures, then they will immediately bring it to the attention of the Union leadership.  Union leaders will then take action to get the process back on track.

The Layoff MAT will also explore possible alternatives to layoffs – such as job sharing, demotions or downshifting.  They will identify services that might be available to laid-off members; for instance, continuation of health insurance and how to apply for unemployment insurance.  The Layoff MAT will learn how to get access to these services and make this information available to any laid-off member.  

Finally the Layoff MAT will help laid-off members to get onto the Recall List.  Once the layoffs are over, they will continue to monitor any rehires and make sure that laid-off Union members get first crack at these jobs.

One reason to join a Union is to have power to influence decisions that affect you.  We get that power when we speak as a group of people instead of just one voice.  Now more than ever we need to be heard – which is why your participation in the Layoff MAT is so important.

Please let us know us know if you would like to be part of the Union’s Layoff MAT.  You can send me an email or give me a call.  My email address is billtheunionguy@gmail.com or call 725-3051 (work) or 956-3476 (home).

Let's Communicate

Commerce’s Union is growing.  The challenges it faces are getting larger as well.  Now more than ever we need to organize and get organized. 

The strength of the Union comes from working and campaigning together.  It comes from Union members simply talking to each other about shared concerns and issues and what, together, they can do about it. 

In other words, it’s about communication.  As our Union grows and the challenges it faces increases in number and complexity, our Union Shop needs to stay in touch more frequently and effectively. 

You may have noticed some colorful paperwork on the Union bulletin board.  If you are reading this blog, then you are probably only doing for the first or second time.  We are going to get together the first Monday of each month during lunch.  All of these are activities we are doing to get news out to you and give you a chance to talk about it.  But we can do more.


Attached to this blog is a Communication Plan that we are developing.  We are organizing a Communications Committee which we hope will consist of about a dozen members.  This Committee will maintain our bulletin boards and draft articles for the blog.  They will both get the news out to members and start talking about it.


Effective communication needs to be developed and maintained.  It also can not become overwhelming and discouraging.  We want avoid burning out our volunteers, which is why we are trying to get a dozen members to join the Committee.  In this way, we can get more articles for the Commerce blog while, at the same time, limiting the number of writing assignments to only one or two per year. 


We are looking for “News Carriers” to maintain our bulletin boards and help distribute information and news.  If we have a News Carrier for each floor, then means that volunteers can still get a lunch break on days that they have to distribute Union news.  It also means our bulletin boards stay more up-to-date.


The Communication Plan includes a list of the volunteers that we need.  So far we have four members on the Committee.  We need a few more. 


If you are interested in joining us, please give me a call or send me an email.  My email address is billtheunionguy@gmail.com or call 725-5031 (work) or 956-3476 (home).

TIME TO VOTE ON THE 2011-2013 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

On Friday, February 11; Union Headquarters will need to receive your ballot regarding the 2011-2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

On Monday, February 7, the Commerce Union Shop is going to have an informational meeting about the contract.  A similar meeting will be on the next day at the nearby DSHS office at Cherry Plaza. 

Here are some of the highlights: