November '07 Executive Vice President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

November 2007 Executive Vice-President's Report
by Stan Wylie, Vice President

Last month I reported that the Local was getting more calls from members about all the different issues going on with the company and or other issues such as healthcare, politics, or what have you. That is still happening but a great number of calls concerning the upcoming vacation canvassing, office policies, and other concerns about the working conditions etc… are coming in now as well.

I have in the past reported that while we appreciate it when members bring concerns to us that they should also as a group inform their managers of the same concerns. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat in meetings only for management to use replies such as "It's only one person" or "The majority of the group don't have an issue with it". I typically find those responses from management annoying at best but honestly if they are correct then it does pose a problem for the unionist. In the last month several different work groups have done exactly that. While they came to their union for assistance they also informed their managers of their unhappiness or unease with the particular issue and let them know they were telling their stewards as well.

A couple of these issues meetings are scheduled to review and try to resolve with management. A couple of the issues made it up the chain to Labor who have basically informed management that particular practices are not supported by the contract language so they have to do something differently. In a couple of others management have proactively sought out ways to resolve the issue within the group without the union having to file a grievance on it.

I guess the point I am trying to make here is that in order to effect change it will require pressure. The pressure can come from many directions. Will we always have a positive result? Probably not. Are we more effective when we work as a group? When employees speak up and stewards take on those concerns and work towards a resolution I would say yes. Remember the union is not solitary. It is us! All of us! To work the most effectively it takes the majority not the minority to make things happen.

We understand of course "Management has the right to run the business." (Another annoying phrase) and do it they will. It is obvious though they don't always do it very effectively. How many times has your organization been "re-organized" only to be "re-organized" again and again and sometimes ending up where it was several years earlier? I haven't been around for all that long but have seen it several times in many work groups. For the most part those changes typically disrupt the work groups and make it more difficult for the employees. We will need to continue to remind management that we employees are the ones affected by this and while it may be their right it is not right to hold us accountable for their lack of judgment. They need to be held accountable when they come up with numbers to achieve but no plan to achieve them. They need to be held accountable when they make errors. Why is it ok when they make a mistake but not the same when we do? Together we can do this. We can hold them accountable it might not change things but at least they know we expect accountability from them as they do us.

So does management have the right to run the business? Yes they do but do they have the right to hold us to higher standards then they do themselves? NO! Let's remind them of that.

I have not reported on grievances for a couple months but we are still significantly higher this year then we were last year. I have kind of done a breakdown by AVP's so you can get a clearer picture of the issues that are going on in the different areas. This list is a general outline and not all inclusive.

AVP	Business unit	Grievances	Primary reasons
Paul Green	SDC's (Panelli)	12	attendance, respect
	Assignment, RCMAC
Dave Holmkvist	LNO (outlying areas)	18	QJD, conduct
Joan Huey*	CMC, ACB,	72	attendance
Dean Sparks*	CMC, BRI,		performance
*shared responsibility for CMC
Michael Lynch	LRAC, RPS	19	attendance, performance
Terry Mitchell	LNO (designerstesters, COT's)	25	performance, respect
Candy Scaiola**	Network (outside techs SDC's (Hensley)	109* (*50+ QJD)	QJD,Vehicle accidents, attendance
(**formerly Thiesen)			e

Clearly some areas are bigger problems then others… I will just leave it at this for now.

I also want to mention the office closure for the Annoyance Call Bureau and remind folks if they are interested in leaving the company they need to have their ESVPP form on file with the company.