Saturday, March 21, 2009

Save Our Trade: Union Update


March E-Board Meeting

The e-Board met last week to discuss myriad of topics concerning our shops, grievances filed with the company and board charges filed with the N.L.R.B. as well as our new Local's Constitution and By-Laws. The Board was in favor of having another Rally at the Downtown L.A. Times Headquarters in response to the company's decision to withhold severance for 63 pressroom employees. The company's decision to lay off 63 long time employees without any severance is a blatant act of retaliation for exercising our right to form a Union.

March 30, 2009 Rally

We said we'd be back at the conclusion of the February 23rd Rally and as a result of the company's unwillingness to offer severance to 63 soon to be former pressroom employees. We have multiple Board charges filed with the N.L.R.B. regarding the company's "Bad Faith Bargaining over severance. We hope to have a decision soon.

We will once again meet on the corner of 1st and Spring at 11:30 am on Monday March 30th. If you are one of the 63 employees being sent away without any severance, come and make your voice heard. Our contributions over the decades will not be ignored simply because we fought to prevent these same types of mistreatment from our soon to be former employer.

{Continue reading here}

1 comment:

grandspud said...

President Pineda said,

"…another rally at the downtown L.A. Times Headquarters in response to the company's decision to withhold severance for 63 pressroom employees…"

with⋅hold with-held, with-hold⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
to refrain from giving or granting something to which a person is entitled: ex. to withhold payment for property received

The problem here is the inept, amateur, union negotiation team failed to even get a severance clause into the contract. Therefore, many fine people were not "entitled" to receive one. (Hence, the use of the word "withhold" would be incorrect.)

Calling Ronnie "President" and letting him negotiate wages and benefits is just as disastrous as calling him "Doctor" and letting him perform heart surgery.

I hope he had a good time and felt very important going to all those contract meetings and getting "stroked" by the union hacks. Sixty-two decent people are paying the price for it.