Friday, October 02, 2009
Save Our Trade: Transfers and Shift Pick Details
By Ronnie Pineda
Yesterday Keith and I met with Russ and Leticia to discuss the transfer of 27 press persons from O.C. to L.A. on October 19th. The ultimate decision belonged to management and we agreed to an unprecedented decision to allow bargaining unit employees to bid on shifts in either shop based on seniority.
This decision maintains compliance with the contract, which I was told by many of you in both L.A. and O.C. to preserve seniority and expressed no desire to amend the contract.
Transfers were handled in various ways in the past and this is the first time that we have an opportunity to bid shifts based on seniority in either shop. This affirms that we are ONE body, ONE union regardless of which facility one chooses to work in.
A few details:
Posted schedules are to run concurrent through 2010.
Orange County bargaining unit employees may voluntarily transfer to L.A.
Volunteers must inform management by October 9, 2009 by noon. After that time, management will institute mandatory transfers of the balance needed from those in O.C. with the least seniority.
Anyone wishing to voluntarily transfer to O.C. from L.A. may request to do so also and must meet the October 9 deadline as well. Seniority will determine whether it will be possible to transfer to O.C. based on how many volunteers from O.C. request to come to L.A.
There are four (4) management assigned shifts in L.A. that print commercial products such as the Wall St. Journal, Barron's and The Post. Anyone one on these crews currently may bid on any available shift schedule when it is their time to pick.
Vacations scheduled for the remainder of the year will be honored and vacation picks for 2010 will be bid later in the year. If new schedules conflict with 2009 vacation picks, you may be asked to modify your vacation pick. If vacation arrangements have been made, IE. Airline and hotel reservations, management has indicated that they will accommodate and honor established vacation times.
Management has posted schedules and all the details of the bid process, so read the information carefully and if you have any questions, check with your representatives.
In Solidarity,
Ronnie Pineda
President,
GCC/IBT Local 140-N
Save Our Trade: Transfers and Shift Pick Details
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3 comments:
I guess " in solidarity" means unless you are the 27 from OC because Keith and Ronnie tried to sell you to the bottom of the pick list for oly. Great way to unite all the workers Ronnie and Keith !!!!
I don't remember seeing anyone else in the room during our discussions, so I believe that I can accurately account for what took place. There were various ways to accomodate the transfer that were discussed during our first meeting.
The notion of putting the O.C. transfers beneath the L.A. employees was not Keith's nor my idea, remember, it was the way it had been done in the past and thats the way some in L.A. wanted it done again.
It wasn't fair then, and it would not have been fair in this situation either.
I admit it was discussed in the first meeting and would have required an amendment to the contract. Members would have to have voted to do so, which we had no interest in doing because it would drastically diminish seniority.
I devoted countless hours to the seniority list to even consider throwing it out the window and deprive O.C. transfers of their seniority.
On Thursday morning, I notified our Rep. Mike Huggins that there was no way that I, as President of the Local would agree to any decision that denied any individual of their seniority, and that is exactly what Keith and I agreed to convey to management at the second meeting.
On Thursday morning,I also spoke with our executive board members and several others in each location to inform them of our final decision and that we intended to inform management of our decision, which was, seniority must prevail and the contract language remain unchanged, to which each and everyone of them agreed.
Many of you have heard me say that I didn't care what plant you worked in, but that we were all in this together, regardless of the fact that all three plants were run in vastly different ways, especially the relationship between management and employees.
I must say I was surprised that management is for the first time ever, allowing bids to be made across plants. I have heard in the past that many have wanted it this way and it does give everyone an opportunity to utilize their seniority in a way they have never before.
So, no one got sold out!
"morethanyouthinkyouknow"
IN SOLIDARITY!
Who told you thid Newton ?
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