Another productive week of bargaining last week resulted in tentative agreements on language including Reduction in Force/Recall, Subcontracting and Temporary Employees.
The Subcontracting language will help to assure that our work will stay in our plant. The Temporary Employee language reduces, and will continue to reduce over the term of our contract, the number of Temps in the plant. Use of Temps will not prevent bargaining unit employees from bidding on desirable jobs or transferring to a more desirable shift. The language also helps Temporary Employees because they can only work as Temps for six months (hopefully allowing them to be hired sooner). If a Temp is hired, then the time worked as a Temporary Employee will be counted towards the probationary period.
Reduction in Force/Recall language assures that employees are given a fair and reasonable opportunity to remain in the plant in the event of a layoff and, if laid off, a fair and reasonable opportunity to be recalled to work.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to reach an agreement to limit overtime, especially on holidays. We all recognize how important it is to meet customer demand but time away from work in order to recuperate and enjoy time with our families is also important to us, especially on the holiday. We will continue to try and reach a balance between meeting customer demand and enjoying the time off from work that we have all earned and deserve. In the meantime, if you have examples of times when you were required to come to work on a holiday and there was no work available when you arrived or it was otherwise unnecessary to be there, please write that down and get it to the bargaining committee.
Future bargaining dates are scheduled for later in September and October.
“True wealth, success, and happiness can only be achieved by balancing our business life with the duty we have to our self and our family."
In solidarity,
Kirmett “KC” Jimmerson, Cissy Glover, Vanessa King, David Hodge,
Sederick Wilson