Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Sorry for my sudden departure but circumstances demand it.

If you have any issues that require handling you should contact Don Eagle at 316-841-7541 cell or 586-772-7250 work or via email at Don@spfpa.org.

Temporary Change

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Starting November 2 until November 23, 2015 SPFPA Local 100 Vice President Luis Gonzales will be temporary taking over the duties of President.  Members with problems or issues may contact VP Gonzales at the contact information below.  Thanks.

Vice President Louis Gonzales
spfpavpl100@gmail.com
(310) 930-5623 cell

For the good of the workers? Like hell!

Find out why this new bill moving through Congress is the worst news for Unions today.

Click on the link below to find out about The Employee Rights Act.

http://freeuniontraining.com/for-the-good-of-the-workers-bullshit/

California Workers Compensation

If you are working in California and you have a work-related injury or illness, your employer is required by law to pay for workers’ compensation benefits.

If you get hurt, what should you do? 

First, report it immediately to your supervisor.  If your injury or illness develops over time, report it as soon as you start noticing it.

You need to fill out a claim form and turn it into your employer.  Your employer is required to either give you the form or mail it to you within one day of notification.

You can also get the form from the Department of Industrial Relations , Department of Workers Compensation website at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCForm1.pdf.

Employers in California are required to have an injury and illness prevention program. They must include worker training, workplace inspections, and procedures for correcting unsafe conditions promptly. Learn about and participate in your employer's program and report unsafe conditions to your employer. If they don't respond, call Cal/OSHA the state agency that enforces health and safety laws.  Even if you are not sure, contact OSHA at www.OSHA.gov.

If you just want more information, go to http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WCFaqIW.html.

Election Time is Around the Corner

As many of you know the International Constitution and Bylaws Article XXV Section 2 requires the election of Local Union Officers shall be conducting during January to February 15 of each year. 

I thought it would be helpful to go over a few facts involving our election process to get everyone started.

In order to participate in both the nomination and election process you must be (Article XXV Section 8(a)) a member in good standing as defined in Article VI Section 14.

In order to run for an Executive Board Position you must have been a member in continuous good standing in the Local Union for one (1) year immediately prior to the nomination (Article XXV Section 4).

These positions are:

President, Vice President, or Vice Presidents, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary-Treasurer, and (1) to three (3) Trustees.  Each Local has the option to have a Sergeant-at-Arms and/or a Guide (Article XXV Section 1).

No member may hold two or more Local Executive Positions (Article XXV Section 4).

Locals should start the process of looking for volunteers to serve on the Election Committee.  If you are running for office you are not allowed to serve on the Election Committee (Article XXV Section 8(c)).

If you would a copy of the newly published International Constitution and Bylaws you can download one by clicking on the link below.

http://spfpa.org/sites/default/files/downloadables/2015ConstitutionandBylaws.pdf

By The Way

This will not apply to those locals who have elected to have longer terms of office in accordance with the International Constitution and Bylaws, Article XXV Section 3.

Cheers to Unions

Big labor sees organizing boon for autos, warehouses, more from U.S. ruling

U.S. union leaders said on Friday that a landmark U.S. labor board ruling on companies' obligations toward contract and franchise workers would help them organize manufacturers and e-commerce companies as well as fast food chains.

By: Reuters | August 29, 2015 7:46 PM

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/economy/big-labor-sees-organizing-boon-for-autos-warehouses-more-from-u-s-ruling/127397/

U.S. union leaders said on Friday that a landmark U.S. labor board ruling on companies’ obligations toward contract and franchise workers would help them organize manufacturers and e-commerce companies as well as fast food chains.

On Thursday the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled the owner of a California recycling plant was a “joint employer” with the contractor that hired workers at the plant, essentially forcing both to bargain with the union together or risk violating U.S. labor law.

Business groups, arguing that the ruling could lead to higher costs and hurt the economy, are pushing the Republican-led Congress to overturn it, in part it because the company named in the decision – Browning-Ferris – cannot challenge it in a federal court without overcoming a number of procedural hurdles.

Unions see the decision as a breakthrough not just in efforts to help employees organizes at franchisees of McDonald’s Corp and other chains but also as a tool to counter the proliferation of subcontracting in other industries in which workers are one or two steps removed from the companies indirectly controlling them.

Manufacturers including auto workers, food processors, steelmakers and aerospace companies are potential targets for union campaigns, said Elizabeth Bunn, director of the AFL-CIO’s organizing department, noting that plant workers are often not directly employed by the parent firm.

“You literally can walk into almost any non-union manufacturing plant in the United States and you’ll see workers working on a line and not be able to distinguish who is temp from an agency and who is a direct employee of the company,” she said.

Big labor has focused much of its resources over the past few years on pushing for higher wages in the fast-food industry, and the Browning-Ferris ruling could have implications for an ongoing NLRB case seeking to hold McDonald accountable as a “joint employer” for alleged violations at franchisees.

‘GAME-CHANGER’

But union organizers see Thursday’s ruling as paving the way for gains across a range of industries given the widespread use of subcontracting by the manufacturing and service sectors to lower costs.

“It’s certainly a game changer,” said Teague Paterson, a partner at Beeson Tayer & Bodine, a law firm representing the union in the NLRB case. “Unions and workers have been frustrated by these triangulated relations that the board condoned in the past. It certainly opens the door to more organizing.”

Rand Wilson, a veteran organizer and a communications and policy director at a Massachusetts chapter of the Services Employees International Union, said he saw potential in warehousing, cleaning services and health care.

Another segment widely cited by organizers and labor experts is the warehouses of companies like Amazon.com Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Google Inc, which are often filled with workers from staffing agencies or contract firms.

The Teamsters union recently won an election to represent warehouse and shipping workers at Google Express, the technology giant’s shopping delivery service. The workers are employed through staffing firm Adecco.

Rome Aloise, president of the Teamsters in Northern California, said the Browning-Ferris ruling means Google will now have to be part of the discussions about working conditions with the union and the contractor.

“This is a classic case. We won and are going into negotiations and now Google will have to come to the table.”

It was a local branch of the Teamsters that originally brought the complaint about a union election at the Browning-Ferris recycling plant to the labor relations board, and the union has been active in organizing truck drivers and warehouse workers at delivery companies and tech firms.

Amazon, Google and Adecco were not immediately available for comment. Wal-Mart spokesman Brian Nick said the company was still reviewing the decision but has concerns.

TOUGH CHALLENGE

Challenging the ruling in court will not be easy, opponents say, because a court could only take up the case if closely-held Browning-Ferris refuses to negotiate with the workers’ union. “This will not be resolved quickly,” said Browning-Ferris’s attorney Stuart Newman. He declined to specifically comment on the company’s next legal steps.

Trade groups have little to no legal recourse, since they were not the subject of the NLRB’s ruling.

“The litigation strategy is somewhere between challenging and nonexistent, and of course the NLRB knows that,” said Michael Layman, a vice-president at the International Franchise Association on Friday.

Instead, the IFA and other groups said they would focus their efforts on Congress, which could write its own definition of employer responsibility for contract workers into law or pass a resolution blocking use of the new NLRB standard.

The Republican chairmen of congressional committees with oversight of labor issues, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, both pledged to introduce legislation that would roll back the decision.

But any bill targeting Browning-Ferris would join other Republican measures aimed at reversing NLRB decisions that have yet to become law, and would likely face a veto as long as a Democrat is in the Oval Office, said Walter Olson, a senior fellow who tracks labor law at the libertarian Cato Institute.

“The politics are such that, even though Republicans have strong majorities in both houses of Congress, the NLRB is considered enough of a party-line issue that a bill would get a presidential veto,” Olson said.

Check the TRAINING Tab for new training videos!

Check the TRAINING Tab for new training videos!

USW The Fighting Spirit

Union/Management Relationships

Respect is the key to a successful relationship between the employer and the union representing it's employees.

The employer must respect the role of the union as the sole and exclusive agent of the employees. The union must respect the employer's exclusive right to manage it's operations and to direct it's work forces. Both parties must recognize and acknowledge their respective rights and obligations under labor legislation and under the collective bargaining agreement, and the rights and obligation of the employees covered by the agreement. The employer and the union must agree to and then respect the overall purposes of a collective bargaining agreement: (1) to establish mutually satisfactory relationship between the employer and it's employees; (2) to establish and maintain satisfactory working conditions, hours of work, and wages for all employees who are subject to the provisions of the agreement; (3) to provide procedures for the prompt and equitable resolution of disputes.

Above all, the employer must respect the fact that the employees have a right to join and participate in a union without fear of intimidation, coercion, harassment, or undue influence by the employer. The union must also abide by it's obligations to treat all employees fairly and in good faith and to treat management with appropriate respect.

A co-operative union-management relationship must be built on a foundation of mutual benefit, honesty, fairness, and most importantly - trust.

CBS Ratification results

On the date of August 7th 2015 at 5 p.m. CBS's ratification vote for the new collective bargaining agreement concluded. The results of that vote are as follows:

The membership accepted the CBA by a majority vote of 30 to 6.

The opening of the ballot box, reconciling the ballots, sorting the ballots, counting the ballots, and transmitting the results to the membership all took place in the presence of 2 CBS members to ensure that a complete and fair election process had taken place.

Thank you to all Union brothers and sisters that showed up and exercised your right to vote.

Azaveous Oliver
Local 100 President

Grievance defined

Grievance:

A grievance is a legal mechanism by which the union and the employer resolve disputes between them about issues in the workplace. For example, a grievance may involve a complaint by an employee, the union or the employer alleging that the employer, or a member of management, or the union has violated a legally binding term of a collective bargaining agreement.

The collective bargaining agreement may contain provisions for what can or cannot be grieved. For example, it may contain a provision that the union cannot grieve a discharge of a probationary employee ( unless that discharge was discriminatory). The procedure for advancing and resolving or arbitrating grievances is normally contained in the collective bargaining agreement. A gripe on the other hand is an issue that may be of importance to the member but for which there isn't an obvious violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

CBS Ratification 08/07/15

Membership

Union Man 5150: Federal Armed Contract Guards went on Strike in Da...

Union Man 5150: Federal Armed Contract Guards went on Strike in Da...: Federal Armed Contract Guards went on Strike in Dallas – and then what? An update to the story about the Dallas Federal Paragon Strike.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that the 2015 Constitution and Bylaws have an article which lists the duties of the Local President?
           

ARTICLE XXVIII

Duties of Local Union Officers

PRESIDENT

                                                             

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings

of the Local Union, sign all orders on the Treasury authorized by the Local

Union, countersign all checks issued by the Financial Secretary‑Treasurer

against account of the Local Union when ordered by the Union, enforce the

provisions of this Constitution and By‑Laws and appoint committees not

otherwise provided for. Except as provided in Article XXV, Section 8 (c),

he shall be a member Ex Officio of all committees.

                                                     

Click Here to down load a complete copy of the 2015 International Constitution and ByLaws 

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that the 2015 Constitution and Bylaws has an article which lists the duties of all Local Union Members?

ARTICLE XXIX

Duties of Local Union Members

                                                   

Section 1.     It should be the responsibility of each member to conscientiously, and to the best of his/her ability, seek to understand and exemplify the intent and purpose of his/her obligation as a member of this International Union.

                                              

To this end, each member is encouraged to render aid or assistance to Brother or Sister members in cases of illness, death or distress. Each member is also encouraged to exercise his/her Constitutionally‑protected right to vote by participating in Local, State and Federal elections through registration and voting.

Click Here to read the full document!

What have Unions done for us?

ITS negotiation committee

Executive Board Members, Stewards and all Members…

If you are not checking this board regularly then you are missing out.  You can subscribe to receive email updates by clicking here!

Are you with an SPFPA Local that doesn’t have a blog like this and would like one?  Contact me at mhough@spfpa.org.