Holiday

Well it has been a while. I have had assignments to accomplish and, of course, the Christmas holiday. I am also attempting to learn the wonderful language of French. We are going to restart talks sometime in January. It will either be on January 18, or the 24, who knows?

Well, some news. We filed a demand to bargain against the site. They were about tobring in contracted labor to conduct our work. The managers took great exception to this. Still, we sat down and talked. The Union had no problem with waht they are doing. At least for now.

The Supe will issue a document that states that all employees will take their 15 minuites out in the field. The Union will meet with the Supe to discuss this. We two issues. Obvious bathroom breaks, and, there are employees who are diabetic. These issues will be brought up in a meeting with the Supe on January 2nd. I think that the ULP's will be discussed.

We FOIA'd the site for all contracts, Memoranda of Understanding and Cooperating Agreements over the past three eyars. This will give the site the idea that the Union is very much looking into what is going on. They (Managers) will just tell what theya re doing. Notice I am not saying 'consult.' I am talking about inform. They won't do it. Click on 'Holiday' to go to the Department of Justice page on the Freedom of Information Act. It is important that every American know what their government is doing.

lastly we are starting to look into one of the Cooperating partners. The site and the Cooperatyying partners seem to have a financial deal. What I mean by this is that both seem to be giving money to the other. Is that legal? I have looked at 501 c 3, and I am confused. But it is worthy of looking into further.

Emails

Well we have dealt all around with the demand to bargain. Most of management, in their ignorance I might add, seemed to have thought that it was a grievance. They took it personally. Well, there is nothing I can do about that. Some people in another division of the site, are still nervous. So, the Prez will be composing a Freedom of Information Act request for all contracts, cooperating agreements and Memornada of Understanding that deal with work that is done by outside businesses. We will show them (The staff) that while it isn't a big deal, we will keep a sharp watch on management to show that the Union is on the job.

Heard from two independent sources that the Deputy Boss and a previous supervisor wrote e-mails to each other that contained derogatory comments of staff. I will get these e-mails if I can. The Deputy is very arrogant and is no doubt still keeping them on her computer. I want to read them

Do you know if e-mails are under FOIA? I wish someone could help on this. My work place is bad, really bad. The National Union feels that the politicians should be brought in. I am starting to see why.

Supervisor Reaction

They just don't get it. I spoke to the direct supervisor yesterday for over an hour. He just doesn't get it. This wasn't about him. It was about what is right. They cannot change the position of staff without the involvement of th Union. The direct Boss feels that he is "Just one of the guys." Well, he isn't any more. He is a boss. He cannot be "one of the guys." I believe that he really means it. I have been told that the Supe has also taken this demand to bargain very personally. he just doesn't get it either. It is simply a bargaining move. Not to flip them off. We need to know what they are planning. We are talking about people's lives here. I appreciate and will not deny management's need to guide and lead. But, they also have an obligation to keep the staff informed on any plans. These meetings went on for over an hour. I believe that they were hurt. Not only was it because they did not read the contract, it is also that they did not realize that the staff will look out for itself.

That being said, some managers have started filling us in on what is going on regarding positions. There is a memo floating around to the President of the Union that says that the fleet of cars at the site will be managed by GSA. However, this memo does not mention that there are two staff members who will lose their positions as a result of the contract. We know that this is happening because of an in house memo obtained by the Union. It is this kind of obstruction that forces the union to go to ULP again. We are not going to be kept out of the loop.

What do you think should happen?

Whoa!

Well, we have sent a demand to bargain to the boss. He and the other two bosses, the Chief and the Direct Supe, are treating it like a 9/11 attack. They feel that it was a personal attack. I seriously doubt if they had read the Collective Bargaining agreement. Had a long conversation with the Chief after work yesterday. He kept saying we should have ghone to him. Well, maybe. But he did not come to us. Understand, there is a great deal of suspicion and distrust that goes on here. Staff and Union are very nervous about the potential to contract out the jobs on the site. The fact that there has been no message from anyone abouit why there is contracting and how far it will go, has any only fcuieled the suspicions. The Union, rightly, issued the demand to bargain only to be informed. Management isn't communicating. Hopefully, this will make them sit down and explain, not necessarily consult, what is going to happen to us.

Contracting Out

The Prez just told me today that the Super is contracting out part of my job to an outside source! First thing Tuesday, The prez will issue a demand to bargain. I seriously think that the attempt here is to phase out a major part of the job that we do at the site. Bad news.

Saturday

Taking the day off on leave. Schedule for the next pay period was never posted so, no one has any idea whwre their assigned duty will be for the next two weeks. The Direct Supe used to be a colleague and now is the boss. He has not, however done everythinmg on time. He is a good man. But not someone whop can get things doen on time. That is a problem when it comes to government. He has also said things to staff members that could have, and perhaps should have, got him into major trouble with the Union. I think he is a good guy, but he needs training. He has had none of it and it is overwhelming him sometimes.

Speaking of training. Just on Wednesday I went to talk with another superviser in the site. He, like my own boss, was appointed in the position. He has had no training whatsoever at all. We were going to talk about an evaluation. In fact the employee who was evaluated was one of the two employees we filed the ULP on. Still, we sat down and talked. It turns out, this supe only gave two senetneces on the 4 part critical elements listed. I asked him why, and it was clear that he was embnarassed about it. He had no answer and stammered something about being a "nice guy" and wanting to treat everyonme with a clean slate. Again, like my own boss, I know that this guy is a stand up nice guy. He has been promoted into the position with no training and no practice at all. It isn't right. It isn't how good supervisors are made. They are destroyed that way. Both these guys need training and development. They are good people who are being ruined.

The title link will get you to the Federal Acquisition page. A source in the work site has told that there are questionable contractual actions taking place at the site.

Happy Holiday

I have Thursday and Friday off. So I should be back Saturday. Not that anybody cares.