Work From Home

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Union Representation Guidelines

This letter is in response to a letter received from management on November 28 suggesting that we can no longer speak to one another on the shop floor regarding the union, any union issues or union grievances. The management is threatening us with discipline if we continue and are caught doing any type of union business on the floor. Article 7,01 says that any research or preparation for a grievance must be done on our own time but the processing of a grievance to management by the employee and union rep will be done during working hours.
If we are to comply with managements orders we will need to make some changes in the way we handle and process grievances and how our membership receives union representation. First off there will be no more discussions with any management and any committee member including myself on any topic regarding the union, discipline of an employee etc.. etc.. If they wish to speak with us they will need to call a committee meeting with all 3 of us to be done off the floor.

If any union member requires union representation regarding a grievance they must first request a step 1 oral discussion meeting with their supervisor as per article 7.03 of the collective agreement. This article says the grievance shall be discussed with the employees immediate supervisor. In the past this was always done on the fly on the shop floor. But since we are no longer able to do union business on the floor the supervisors must arrange for a meeting in the board room for all oral step 1 grievances. If the supervisor fails to provide for such meetings then a grievance will be filed for failing to recognize us as a union article 1 and failing to provide union representation article 6. Moving forward if a member approaches a steward or union rep on the floor without first talking to their supervisor they will be instructed to do so first by the union rep. Keep in mind we are being threatened with discipline if we are caught doing any type of union business on the shop floor other than the processing of a grievance to management as per article 7.01.

Also all disciplines including PQRA's and all councils require union representation at the employees request under article 9 of the collective agreement. If the company refuses your right to union representation it is recommended that you leave the office, board room or were ever it is management is meeting with you until representation is given. Do not let management tell you they don't have to supply representation for councils. This is not true. A council is discipline and it does remain on your record. Always demand a union rep be present for all meetings with management.


If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask after working hours.


In Solidarity

Tom Worsley


Saturday 19 November 2011

Precarious Work At Armada Still A big Issue


Christmas is fast approaching and I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. It seems like just yesterday that we were in bargaining a year ago this December.



Armada has hired 28 full time employees since negotiations including 2 maintenance employees and a midnight tool room. Early Nov I asked about hiring more and the answer I recieved from management was yes most likely, probably before Chrismas we will be hiring more. Although this is good for our union there still seems to be a total disregard for the exploitation of precarious workers from the temp agency. At the time of writing this article we still have approximately 105 temp agency workers vs 166 full time unionized members for a total of 271 employees excluding salaried workers.



The problem we have is the ratio in the collective agreement article 11.02.4. for those of you who do not know how this ratio works it’s a 3 month average which forces management to hire every 3 months depending on how many agency employees are utilized each month. For simplicity sake lets say the 3 month average is 100. you would then subtract 20 and multiply by .10 which would mean they would only owe us 8 full time employees for those 3 months. We must continue to put pressure on management to have article 11.02.4 of our collective agreement changed in the next set of negotiations. Again let me make it clear that we are not against the people who work for the temp agency. We only wish that they could enjoy the same wages and benefits the membership receives.



As of Nov 14 we are still awaiting a step 3 meeting regarding the production assistants jobs (PA's). Although i think management is on the right track in creating these jobs i think the way they are going about it is completely wrong. Seniority employees are being discriminated against while the company favours lower seniority employees for the positions without posting the job as per article 12.01 of our collective agreement. The company says they need to do this in order to get the best of the best.. the collective agreement says in article 12.07 that all jobs postings are subject to a probationary period of 20 days. This means all seniority employees should have the opportunity for the job based on their seniority and if it is deemed they cannot perform the job management may move on to the next candidate within the 20 day probationary period based on seniority.



Another major issue we have with the creation of these positions is that they were created by management to support people in higher classifications of pay. For example instead of hiring more full time material handlers the production assistants are to pick up the slack. This is fine but material handlers get paid over $1 an hr more than a PA will get and a material handler set up in assembly almost $2 an our more than a PA. If the PA's are to to the same work then they should be paid for it.



Last but not least i would like to thank all those who took part in the November training sessions held at local 222 in Oshawa. These sessions are free to all members of local 222 and are a great way to increase your knowledge on union activism along with workplace health and safety and human rights.



In solidarity

Tom Worsley

WORKING TOGEATHER IS KEY TO FUTURE SUCCESS

Since this is my first article in the OshaWorker I would again like to thank the membership for their support and overwhelmingly electing me as your new chairperson at Armada Tool Works. I will do my very best to represent every single member without prejudice.



Let me first start out by reminding each and every one of you that you are the union and you have a voice. The union doesn’t just consist of a chairperson, 2committee people, and 6 shop stewards. We are all in this together and we areall members of local 222 unit 34 at Armada Tool Works in Lindsay On. The more people that understand this the better off and stronger we will be as a union.We must stick together and fight management on important issues. On a side note the arguing amongst brothers and sisters must stop. I know brothers and sisters do fight but as I am your leader I am asking you to stop the bickering amongst each other and save it for management.



So far the company has showed signs that they would like to work with us and not against us. While throwing us a barbecue in recognition of our hard work and then mandating Saturday overtime it shows unfortunately that we are not totally on the same page. But I assure you they are trying and I believe there could be some more positive changes down the road. The company says the mandated overtime was necessary due to increased customer demand. As I write this we are being mandated for our 5th Saturday after management assured us it would only be for 3 weeks.



The management has decided that they could create new positions in plastics called production assistants which would replace the line leader position. This job would not be a posted position according to management. This means that they would be able to pick and choose whom every they wish without any regard for the job posting procedure or seniority. In the committees view this is a clear and direct violation of article 12 of our collective agreement. I have evidence of past arbitration cases that are similar to ours that management was wrong by not posting the jobs and the arbitrator awarded the decision to the union. We have filed a policy grievance on this issue but I urge all employees with seniority to file a personnel individual grievance as well if you feel you have been passed up for this position.



In the mean time we must ensure that we all continue to follow all orders of management regardless of whether we agree with them or not. The only time we can refuse a direct order is when it clearly endangers ones self or someone else. Keep this in mind before you tell your supervisor NO! I will not do this or that. The only thing we can legally refuse is unsafe work. If it is aviolation of the collective agreement do it first and contact your steward to file a grievance after.





In Solidarity



Tom Worsley





New Chairperson

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support during the past elections and voting me in as your new union chairperson at Armada Toolworks.



It has been a very different environment in auto parts manufacturing than it was just 10 years ago. As some of you may be aware I was an employee at Libbey Owens Ford (LOF) beginning in 1987. Since then being a big 3 auto supplier has changed drastically both on the union side and on the management side. It is more important now than it ever was to stick together and all work together in order to be more economically productive. This does not mean we all start working unsafely in order to be more productive or skip our breaks because we don't have time to take them. The company I believe is trying to work leaner than what is possible of us the workers in order to survive in one of the worst economies since the 1930's. We must continue to work to the best of our abilities to be able to compete with China , Mexico and now USA workers. But keep in mind that we are all doing more than our share already and the company must begin to realize this. We must not work at such a pace that we injure ourselves. If we do we need to report it both to the supervisor and the on shift health and safety rep. We must then demand that a written accident report is done and copies given to the injured worker. Too many of our members are being denied benefits because the government is claiming that there is no proof their injury is work related. At this point the company is refusing to accommodate light duties for these people because the injury was not work related.



There are approximately 130-140 Temporary agency workers working at Armada. On the afternoon shift in plastics we have 75% temp workers to only 25% full time unionized employees. As full time employees we must treat these people as our own, and I was once a temp agency worker myself before being hired full time. We do not hate or dislike the people who work for the temp agency we only dislike the temp agency that hires them. It is our goal to get as many of these people off the Global payroll and onto Armada's payroll and into our union. The company has been hiring full time employees but the ratio between temp agency workers and full time Armada employees is still way too high in my opinion. The company has assured me that they will be hiring more in the very neer future and I plan on keeping a very close eye on the numbers. 15 years ago temp agency workers on a C.A.W. Shop floor were unheard of. But today G.M. in Oshawa recruits workers from a temp agency, along with several other top auto parts suppliers. There is not much we can do about this ongoing trend except for lobbying the government for change and ensuring that the company abides by article 11.02.4 of our collective agreement.



Your union chair person is allowed 20 hrs per month to do union business as per article 6.02. I will be making arrangements with the company to be off the floor every Thursday between 11:00am-3:30pm to do union business. During this time I will be available to everyone. Do not hesitate to get in touch with me during this time if you need help or have any issues.





In solidarity

Tom Worsley