Executive Vice President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

Febraury 2008 Executive Vice-President's Report
by Stan Wylie, Vice President

Well I don't really know where to begin here. January was primarily spent cleaning up grievances from last year. We had a record number as I have reported several times before. Keep in mind it is not a goal of the local to increase grievances. I am pretty sure we would prefer the company just do the right thing from the beginning. I understand of course that will never be completely the case but the fact the numbers keep going up are concerning.

I feel I should remind folks if there are issues in your work groups you and your co-workers still should let your manager know of your concerns. Many issues are resolved that way and when not it could become important later on in the grievance process. The supervisors are obligated to address employee concerns and we should hold them accountable for that.

Stewards' training has been scheduled and we will have 5 participants 3 from network 2 of these from the Bellingham area and 2 from the CMC. I am looking forward to it. Terry Mitchell and Linda Rieland will be assisting in the training so will thank them for their time and commitment to do the training. It is interesting that the areas where the people are coming forward from to become stewards also seem to be the areas where the grievances are increasing the most… Just thoughts to ponder.

As we get ready to go into the election cycle and pick a new President (WHOO HOO) it is important that there are still many things that need to be addressed by our State and Federal Legislatures. Health Care and the Employee Free Choice act are a couple. I would still encourage everyone to pay attention to those issues and to speak up and speak out about them whenever possible. Working folk's rights and wages will continue to erode if those current systems are not changed very soon.

My report is quite brief this month but as I mentioned before January was spent primarily in grievance meetings. Staffing is still up to no good and candidates are getting selected based on hiring manager's interviews it seems. I am having a hard time with that because they seem to be a bit biased and not really relevant to ones skills or seniority. Network, CMC, BMG, and assorted others seem to be stepping up discipline and changing expectations without explanation or assistance on how to obtain higher numbers. Funny how that works.