The union and it's members want new employees to have a clear understanding of the contract between them and Allied Barton. They want all new employees to understand that such issues as people being hired without jobs being posted, extra hours being given out unfairly, or a new employee doing a post by themselves when management continues to use the excuse they are just being "trained" (you cannot be trained without a trainer) are in fact all violations of the contract which requires job openings to be offered to existing employees first and it is in every one's interest, existing employee and new hire, to make sure that the contract is honored. We feel that certain details need to be pointed out in order for everyone to understand and to keep peace among all our brothers and sisters.
First, by the company not posting these jobs correctly it has denied many officers the chance to bid on jobs and make a change from their current post or shift. There are many reasons why a officer may want to change and regardless of that reason he/she should be able to do so before a new employee is brought in. Stop and think about if it were you in this position. How would you feel if you had been here 6 years and you worked the overnight shift at Crimson and you were just waiting to get a opportunity to move to a better shift or post, next time the schedule comes out you look and see that they hired two new employees for for hours and posts that you wanted? Then realizing that the company you have worked for and in many cases went out of your way to help out didn't even care about how you felt or your needs, but instead chose to bring in a new employee. Really how would you feel??
Second, the company has continually violated overtime policies. There newest technique is using new employees (and we literally mean using). They do this by placing new employees throughout campus. When management is asked what job position are they here for? Where is the job posting for this position? This is when we are told they are just here for "training" they have not been given any official position, we don;t know where we are going to put them. How does it feel to know you were hired yet have no real position? Not knowing where they may end up putting you before this all over? Next, if Allied were being honest in when claiming that new employees were just being trained then these employees would never be working a post alone because they cannot be training without a trainer. Also keep in mind that if new employees were just being trained then nobody would be losing hours because you and the trainer would be paid.
Finally, it is important for everyone to understand that when a new employee who under managements terms is only being trained, has officially been trained at a post then there name is added to the secondary list NOT primary list of qualified people to fill the post. The reason they are added to the secondary list because this is not their permanent/home job site. They do not officially hold any position at these locations until the proper procedures are followed with offering these positions to officers who have been there before management took it upon themselves to violate the contract and bring them there for what they are calling training. Once the jobs are posted correctly and no officer bids on it then and only then may a new employee be given that official position. Once the new employee has been trained, added to the secondary list, then the overtime policy applies to that new employee the same as any other officer. This simply means they can only be given a shift at the post if all the officers on the primary list turn it down and it is their turn to be asked on the secondary list. Until management turns over documents to Union showing exactly what post, hours, and days off these new employees were hired for they must always have an experienced officer with them and never alone at a post. This is because as management labels them are simply trainers with no official position. Once they are considered trained they may be moved to another location for training or they can continue working with a experienced officer but never should these new employees be allowed to cover shifts at a position that isn't officially theirs. So to be clear, trainers must be doing exactly that till they are offically given a post.
Let us be clear, we are happy to see new hires and welcome them in to the Union. However, we have a contract with AlliedBarton that requires job openings to be offered to existing employees first and it is in everyone's interest, existing employee and new hire, to make sure that the contract is honored.
--
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Job Posting Violations
After looking over the job postings that was delivered to the membership on 9-11-08 several items were found that we felt needed to be pointed out because they are in violation of the contract.
1.) Some of the postings have less than 16 hours (Harvard Medical School - NRB desk rover, Library # 239067, and Harvard Medical School - Vanderbilt Hall)
2.)The job posting date on most of them are 8-27-08, although HMS- Harvard Institute of Medicine is 9-3-08, HMS-NRB desk Rover and Vanderbilt Hall are 9-9-08. All dates are before the actual date the jobs were posted which is 9-11-08.
3.)Most of the postings still have no real job description (most are still copy and paste from information from the AB website). The postings from HMS do offer a better description but still doesn't give the details most officers want to know before applying for a new post (does job require being outdoors during bad weather, does job require knowledge of computers like CCTV, Widener Mass Ave entrance or is this a position that your sitting behind a desk answering phone and giving simple directions to people who are lost).
4.)Several of the job postings have more than on job per sheet and this is not made very clear at all. The one titled Library has four jobs listed one being Fri, Sat, 0800-1600 Monday 2400-0800 (24 hrs). Another job listed is Sat 1600-2400 at Widener (8hrs far short of the minimum 16). Next job listed has 625 Central Square Fri 1500-1900, Lunch Relief 0900-1900 lunch relief ends at 1500 and you cant do relief and 625 Mass Ave at the same time, and it Tues-Thur 1300-1700 Lamont which the Thur shift isn't available do to it already being taken by an officer who adds those hours to his set location to equal 40 and has been for a long time now. And the last job is Fri Tue Thu 1300-1800 Pusey this job only adds up to 15 hrs. (not the minimum 16). Now after taking a look at this mess you can see why there should only be one job listed per sheet of paper and that the current way they are doing this is confusing to the officers who may be looking for a different post to bid on.
5.)At this time there is still no bid sheets been made available to officers. Some posting say send a resume which is ridiculous because officers aren't applying for a job but instead are looking for a transfer/job promotion. Other postings give a phone number to call and say inquires directed to.... First there is no paperwork here leaving the officer no way of disputing the person taking these calls if they were to come up later and say they never received this officers call and moved on giving the job to someone they prefer more. This is definitely not a good ideal to let them get started at because it will only cause major problems later.
6.)On the job postings for Harvard Medical School they have listed under requirements several things that need to be addressed to so that they and the officers applying know what to expect.
A.) Good knowledge of HMS Campus and surrounding area. - First I think this is a little over the top considering that all officers haven't worked the HMS area and therefor many would have to learn the area the same as if they had hired someone new. It needs to be made clear to the management at all units, that all officers have a right to bid on these jobs regardless of what unit they currently work in, regardless if the officer currently knows the area or will have to learn it, and that the same rules apply to all officers when it comes to bidding and getting any job post.
B.)Good Writing Skills. - Exactly what do they mean by good writing skills? Does this post require the guard to do more paperwork than usual (if so it should be listed in the description) or is this no more paperwork than your ordinary guard would do (log sheets, incident reports, etc.) if this is the case then applying that a officer must have good writing skills is a little misleading since all guards are required to keep logs and fill out incident reports. Simply put if a guard didn't have enough writing skills to fill out a log or incident report then they wouldn't have been hired in the first place.
C.)Flexible Schedule.- What are they calling a flexible schedule? When a officer bids on a job it is with the understanding that his schedule and set days off will be the same as what was posted and bid on. While the management has the right to move a officer to a different post to in order to coverage for shift/post, they do not have the right to continually change around the officers days off or regular scheduled hours. A officer should only be pulled away from their regular shift/duties in cases of emergency where they have to get the post covered immediately (no time to use call in sheets ) or no other trained officers to cover the shift.
7.) All the job posts they have made available at this time are part-time with the exception of the construction site in Alston (Turner). I know many of the new hires have been told they will get full time hours and many have been told they will be on a set shift. None of these full time positions that have been given to new hires or they are being trained for (managements reasoning when asked about these people) have been posted. If they hired these people they had to have a job available so where is the posts for these jobs? And a lot of the claims about these people being trained is not exactly truthful either. Many of these positions being covered by new hires can be learned in one to two days. Many of these post are a matter of someone telling them a short list of things to do then leaving them on their own to cover the post. If they are there for training then get it done and move on don't use training as a excuse to bring in new hires and put them where ever take a notion with no respect for the officers who are already there and denying them the opportunity to these positions first.
We will be checking this weeks postings just as we did these and we will once again point out all violations and demand they are fixed. Check back later for more updates.
1.) Some of the postings have less than 16 hours (Harvard Medical School - NRB desk rover, Library # 239067, and Harvard Medical School - Vanderbilt Hall)
2.)The job posting date on most of them are 8-27-08, although HMS- Harvard Institute of Medicine is 9-3-08, HMS-NRB desk Rover and Vanderbilt Hall are 9-9-08. All dates are before the actual date the jobs were posted which is 9-11-08.
3.)Most of the postings still have no real job description (most are still copy and paste from information from the AB website). The postings from HMS do offer a better description but still doesn't give the details most officers want to know before applying for a new post (does job require being outdoors during bad weather, does job require knowledge of computers like CCTV, Widener Mass Ave entrance or is this a position that your sitting behind a desk answering phone and giving simple directions to people who are lost).
4.)Several of the job postings have more than on job per sheet and this is not made very clear at all. The one titled Library has four jobs listed one being Fri, Sat, 0800-1600 Monday 2400-0800 (24 hrs). Another job listed is Sat 1600-2400 at Widener (8hrs far short of the minimum 16). Next job listed has 625 Central Square Fri 1500-1900, Lunch Relief 0900-1900 lunch relief ends at 1500 and you cant do relief and 625 Mass Ave at the same time, and it Tues-Thur 1300-1700 Lamont which the Thur shift isn't available do to it already being taken by an officer who adds those hours to his set location to equal 40 and has been for a long time now. And the last job is Fri Tue Thu 1300-1800 Pusey this job only adds up to 15 hrs. (not the minimum 16). Now after taking a look at this mess you can see why there should only be one job listed per sheet of paper and that the current way they are doing this is confusing to the officers who may be looking for a different post to bid on.
5.)At this time there is still no bid sheets been made available to officers. Some posting say send a resume which is ridiculous because officers aren't applying for a job but instead are looking for a transfer/job promotion. Other postings give a phone number to call and say inquires directed to.... First there is no paperwork here leaving the officer no way of disputing the person taking these calls if they were to come up later and say they never received this officers call and moved on giving the job to someone they prefer more. This is definitely not a good ideal to let them get started at because it will only cause major problems later.
6.)On the job postings for Harvard Medical School they have listed under requirements several things that need to be addressed to so that they and the officers applying know what to expect.
A.) Good knowledge of HMS Campus and surrounding area. - First I think this is a little over the top considering that all officers haven't worked the HMS area and therefor many would have to learn the area the same as if they had hired someone new. It needs to be made clear to the management at all units, that all officers have a right to bid on these jobs regardless of what unit they currently work in, regardless if the officer currently knows the area or will have to learn it, and that the same rules apply to all officers when it comes to bidding and getting any job post.
B.)Good Writing Skills. - Exactly what do they mean by good writing skills? Does this post require the guard to do more paperwork than usual (if so it should be listed in the description) or is this no more paperwork than your ordinary guard would do (log sheets, incident reports, etc.) if this is the case then applying that a officer must have good writing skills is a little misleading since all guards are required to keep logs and fill out incident reports. Simply put if a guard didn't have enough writing skills to fill out a log or incident report then they wouldn't have been hired in the first place.
C.)Flexible Schedule.- What are they calling a flexible schedule? When a officer bids on a job it is with the understanding that his schedule and set days off will be the same as what was posted and bid on. While the management has the right to move a officer to a different post to in order to coverage for shift/post, they do not have the right to continually change around the officers days off or regular scheduled hours. A officer should only be pulled away from their regular shift/duties in cases of emergency where they have to get the post covered immediately (no time to use call in sheets ) or no other trained officers to cover the shift.
7.) All the job posts they have made available at this time are part-time with the exception of the construction site in Alston (Turner). I know many of the new hires have been told they will get full time hours and many have been told they will be on a set shift. None of these full time positions that have been given to new hires or they are being trained for (managements reasoning when asked about these people) have been posted. If they hired these people they had to have a job available so where is the posts for these jobs? And a lot of the claims about these people being trained is not exactly truthful either. Many of these positions being covered by new hires can be learned in one to two days. Many of these post are a matter of someone telling them a short list of things to do then leaving them on their own to cover the post. If they are there for training then get it done and move on don't use training as a excuse to bring in new hires and put them where ever take a notion with no respect for the officers who are already there and denying them the opportunity to these positions first.
We will be checking this weeks postings just as we did these and we will once again point out all violations and demand they are fixed. Check back later for more updates.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Letter from security officer Aryt Alasti to the membership
My fellow Union Member,
As I am sure you are all well aware of, Allied Barton is making a big effort to hire and train new security officers, so as to as much as possible eliminate paying for overtime. Since the beginning of this summer a lot of new hires also took place due to extra coverage requirements at the dormitories and elsewhere which had been mandated by Harvard.
While the Union is not opposed to Allied Barton taking the legitimate steps necessary in order to satisfy its owners, investors, and clients and in fact the Union desires that the company be successful because this translates into job security, and a larger selection of job opportunities for members but the strategies used by the company in pursuit of these goals cannot be in violation of the "Agreement" which it and the SEIU signed as of July 1, 2007. Not only have such violations consistently, repeatedly, and systematically been the case, however, but the pattern and persistence of the violations strongly indicates that they are occurring as part of an intentional plan to act in a way contrary to what has been agreed upon in a legal binding document.
Some of the persons who might have been involved in such planning are now gone or soon will be gone, and the Union has received acknowledgment from Allied Barton that mistakes were made. Additionally, as you may know, when the company insisted on taking grievances, on matters such as improper disciplinary actions and withholding of holiday pay, to arbitration, they have lost so far in every instance. I think there is a lot more respect now for the seriousness, commitment, and competence with which the Union addresses these issues.
However, we are still seeing the widespread practice of new hires being placed for training when no notice of job vacancy was ever distributed by the company. When vacancy notices have been produced, prior to last week they were not being distributed campus-wide,as required by Article 33-"Seniority and Job Openings" of the Agreement. Last weeks announcements were put out so late that the deadline for responding was a day before the date when we received them, and the date of "issuance" showed on the notices was almost two weeks previous to that! Among the "jobs" shown were some that involved fewer than the minimum 16 hours for part-time work. Some individual notices showed multiple positions, which could not have combined as a single person's work-week and/or were otherwise questionable. There has not been so far, in the period of more than a year since the start date of the Agreement, been a single job vacancy announcement supplied by the company in a which is in compliance with Article 33.
The effect of this is to deny to employees the opportunity to be aware of and apply for desirable positions. The advantage to the company has been that new hires, persons from sites outside Harvard, and persons with lesser seniority are able to be placed in these positions, and there is not the possibility of complaints from clients who lose experienced guards to other facilities as a result of transfers. There have been multiple meetings and other communications between the union and the company representatives about these matters, yet we are still being presented with a totally unacceptable farce of useless announcements (which by the way, are being stapled underneath the weekly schedules, but still no binders as per the Agreement).
For those fortunate few who have been able to see the announcements while there was still time to apply, no "bid sheet" form has been made available, as is standard practice elsewhere, to simplify and provide a record of the application, and make it possible to readily summarize the applicant's work history and qualifications. Of course no long term employee is likely to have a "resume'" to present on short notice, so that specification on the announcements is another flaw which needs fixing. Ideally the postings should include brief descriptions of job requirements, so that applicants can indicate the ways in which their experience corresponds to the "ability and performance" which Article 33 states will be a basis for consideration. The union will be producing its own bid sheets soon, since despite past promises these have not been forth coming from the company.
Regarding all new trainees, the explanation we've received recently from the company has been that these people are being "crossed-trained" for positions in which they will not actually be working to begin with, so as to provide future flexibility for schedulings, with trainees subsequently to be placed permanently elsewhere. There have not been job announcements for many of these placements. However most of these people have been hired or brought to Harvard with the expectation of full-time hours. Some for instance at the Harvard College Libraries are already being scheduled to work by themselves after completing training. Others at the libraries are being cut those hours, and if these scheduling are made permanent, that will be in clear violation of the Agreement.
There has been little progress so over such a long period of time with bringing the company's practices into compliance with the relatively simple requirements of the Agreement, that it begins to appear there is more to account for it than just deficiencies of competence or obstinate indifference on the part of certain participants in the process. Very soon, the way things are going, we will have a large number of employees new to Harvard working in various positions which union members did not have a chance to apply for, as is their right. We will have those new persons working many hundreds of hours, which will cost members thousands of dollars' worth of pay. Even if ultimately those hours would have been filled by new hires, it is happening at a greatly accelerated pace because the required process is not being followed. This amounts to what could called "contract-busting".
The union is demanding that:
*Job vacancy announcements be issued in a timely way, for every position.
*Trainees for jobs which have not been assigned to them on the basis of announcement, application, and selection according to the article guidelines of Article 33, will be transferred elsewhere immediately upon completion of such training. All training is to take place in the company of an experienced trainer, who will be scheduled for those same hours.
*As per the exact wording in the Agreement, on request the Employer will inform non- successful applicants of the reason(s) for their non-selection that shall reference the General Evaluation Criteria set forth in the {Agreement} side letter. Any interviewer, including Harvard Administrators, should be prepared to state specifically as above why someone was not chosen for the position.
Since the situation at present is one which must not continue without prompt resolution, and it has not been possible to make satisfactory progress by negotiation and through the grievance process, a protest rally has been scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 3:00pm-5:00pm, outside Holyoke Center in Harvard Square. Leaflets will be distributed, and we will do what we can to get our message out to the Harvard and local communities. I hope you will be there.
More copies of the Agreement will be distributed this week, so that anyone who wants to know just what rights we have according to its provisions (and doesn't already have one) will be able to refer to it. There will be some stocked at centrally located posts such as Alpha as well. A list of union stewards will be included in the upcoming newsletter. Please consult with any of them about concerns you may have. They are a resource for which we can all be grateful, having taken on these responsibilities without compensation so as to be of service to the union-member community.
Aryt Alasti
Secuity -CGIS 3rd shift
As I am sure you are all well aware of, Allied Barton is making a big effort to hire and train new security officers, so as to as much as possible eliminate paying for overtime. Since the beginning of this summer a lot of new hires also took place due to extra coverage requirements at the dormitories and elsewhere which had been mandated by Harvard.
While the Union is not opposed to Allied Barton taking the legitimate steps necessary in order to satisfy its owners, investors, and clients and in fact the Union desires that the company be successful because this translates into job security, and a larger selection of job opportunities for members but the strategies used by the company in pursuit of these goals cannot be in violation of the "Agreement" which it and the SEIU signed as of July 1, 2007. Not only have such violations consistently, repeatedly, and systematically been the case, however, but the pattern and persistence of the violations strongly indicates that they are occurring as part of an intentional plan to act in a way contrary to what has been agreed upon in a legal binding document.
Some of the persons who might have been involved in such planning are now gone or soon will be gone, and the Union has received acknowledgment from Allied Barton that mistakes were made. Additionally, as you may know, when the company insisted on taking grievances, on matters such as improper disciplinary actions and withholding of holiday pay, to arbitration, they have lost so far in every instance. I think there is a lot more respect now for the seriousness, commitment, and competence with which the Union addresses these issues.
However, we are still seeing the widespread practice of new hires being placed for training when no notice of job vacancy was ever distributed by the company. When vacancy notices have been produced, prior to last week they were not being distributed campus-wide,as required by Article 33-"Seniority and Job Openings" of the Agreement. Last weeks announcements were put out so late that the deadline for responding was a day before the date when we received them, and the date of "issuance" showed on the notices was almost two weeks previous to that! Among the "jobs" shown were some that involved fewer than the minimum 16 hours for part-time work. Some individual notices showed multiple positions, which could not have combined as a single person's work-week and/or were otherwise questionable. There has not been so far, in the period of more than a year since the start date of the Agreement, been a single job vacancy announcement supplied by the company in a which is in compliance with Article 33.
The effect of this is to deny to employees the opportunity to be aware of and apply for desirable positions. The advantage to the company has been that new hires, persons from sites outside Harvard, and persons with lesser seniority are able to be placed in these positions, and there is not the possibility of complaints from clients who lose experienced guards to other facilities as a result of transfers. There have been multiple meetings and other communications between the union and the company representatives about these matters, yet we are still being presented with a totally unacceptable farce of useless announcements (which by the way, are being stapled underneath the weekly schedules, but still no binders as per the Agreement).
For those fortunate few who have been able to see the announcements while there was still time to apply, no "bid sheet" form has been made available, as is standard practice elsewhere, to simplify and provide a record of the application, and make it possible to readily summarize the applicant's work history and qualifications. Of course no long term employee is likely to have a "resume'" to present on short notice, so that specification on the announcements is another flaw which needs fixing. Ideally the postings should include brief descriptions of job requirements, so that applicants can indicate the ways in which their experience corresponds to the "ability and performance" which Article 33 states will be a basis for consideration. The union will be producing its own bid sheets soon, since despite past promises these have not been forth coming from the company.
Regarding all new trainees, the explanation we've received recently from the company has been that these people are being "crossed-trained" for positions in which they will not actually be working to begin with, so as to provide future flexibility for schedulings, with trainees subsequently to be placed permanently elsewhere. There have not been job announcements for many of these placements. However most of these people have been hired or brought to Harvard with the expectation of full-time hours. Some for instance at the Harvard College Libraries are already being scheduled to work by themselves after completing training. Others at the libraries are being cut those hours, and if these scheduling are made permanent, that will be in clear violation of the Agreement.
There has been little progress so over such a long period of time with bringing the company's practices into compliance with the relatively simple requirements of the Agreement, that it begins to appear there is more to account for it than just deficiencies of competence or obstinate indifference on the part of certain participants in the process. Very soon, the way things are going, we will have a large number of employees new to Harvard working in various positions which union members did not have a chance to apply for, as is their right. We will have those new persons working many hundreds of hours, which will cost members thousands of dollars' worth of pay. Even if ultimately those hours would have been filled by new hires, it is happening at a greatly accelerated pace because the required process is not being followed. This amounts to what could called "contract-busting".
The union is demanding that:
*Job vacancy announcements be issued in a timely way, for every position.
*Trainees for jobs which have not been assigned to them on the basis of announcement, application, and selection according to the article guidelines of Article 33, will be transferred elsewhere immediately upon completion of such training. All training is to take place in the company of an experienced trainer, who will be scheduled for those same hours.
*As per the exact wording in the Agreement, on request the Employer will inform non- successful applicants of the reason(s) for their non-selection that shall reference the General Evaluation Criteria set forth in the {Agreement} side letter. Any interviewer, including Harvard Administrators, should be prepared to state specifically as above why someone was not chosen for the position.
Since the situation at present is one which must not continue without prompt resolution, and it has not been possible to make satisfactory progress by negotiation and through the grievance process, a protest rally has been scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 3:00pm-5:00pm, outside Holyoke Center in Harvard Square. Leaflets will be distributed, and we will do what we can to get our message out to the Harvard and local communities. I hope you will be there.
More copies of the Agreement will be distributed this week, so that anyone who wants to know just what rights we have according to its provisions (and doesn't already have one) will be able to refer to it. There will be some stocked at centrally located posts such as Alpha as well. A list of union stewards will be included in the upcoming newsletter. Please consult with any of them about concerns you may have. They are a resource for which we can all be grateful, having taken on these responsibilities without compensation so as to be of service to the union-member community.
Aryt Alasti
Secuity -CGIS 3rd shift
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Overtime Unfairly Distributed...
Overtime must be distributed as equally as possible and it must be assigned by seniority, on a rotating basis. Allied is also supposed to be keeping records of who is being called for a OT shift, when they are called as well as who receives these OT shifts. Unfortunately Allied is not keeping records and continues to be unfair in the distribution of OT.
Several members have complained about this but they refuse to file a grievance to force Allied to abide by the contract and stop violating their rights. To allow Allied to continue ignoring the contract and members rights sets a dangerous precedent for the future. If members continue to allow this to happen by only complaining (which the Allied management clearly ignores) and not file grievances (which forces them take notice and get the issues resolved) then this problem will continue on and eventually get worse.
The shop stewards are currently meeting and working with Allied to try to resolve the matter and set a procedure that ensures that all members are treated fairly and their rights are respected not violated. Many members complain that it is taking to much time to get this issue resolved. In order to make Allied comply sooner members who have been treated unfairly to file a grievance. The more people who do so, the quicker the management will do as they agreed to in the contract.
Stop complaining and fight back! Do not be afraid to speak up and file a grievance. Members who have had their rights violated need to contact a shop steward immediately.
Several members have complained about this but they refuse to file a grievance to force Allied to abide by the contract and stop violating their rights. To allow Allied to continue ignoring the contract and members rights sets a dangerous precedent for the future. If members continue to allow this to happen by only complaining (which the Allied management clearly ignores) and not file grievances (which forces them take notice and get the issues resolved) then this problem will continue on and eventually get worse.
The shop stewards are currently meeting and working with Allied to try to resolve the matter and set a procedure that ensures that all members are treated fairly and their rights are respected not violated. Many members complain that it is taking to much time to get this issue resolved. In order to make Allied comply sooner members who have been treated unfairly to file a grievance. The more people who do so, the quicker the management will do as they agreed to in the contract.
Stop complaining and fight back! Do not be afraid to speak up and file a grievance. Members who have had their rights violated need to contact a shop steward immediately.
Officers Rights Being Violated All Across Campus....
Most officers are fully aware that job openings are filled by new hires without jobs first being posted for existing members. This is a clear violation of Article 33 of our contract with Allied.
When jobs go unposted it violates a members rights to relocate to a better area/job post, change shifts, to have set days off, etc.
Regardless of a officers reasoning for wanting to change posts the fact remains that they have a right to do so as long as they bid on the job within the time limits of the job posting and are the most senior officer meeting the job qualifications who bid on the job within the time limits set.
After a job has been posted and the time limit expires for existing officers to apply and providing no existing member bid then and only then Allied has the right to fill the position with a new hire.
We cannot continue to allow Allied to violate members rights and we all must be willing to stand up and fight back. Any member who feels they didn't have the opportunity to bid on a job for any reason (new hire, existing member with less seniority given job that went unposted, etc.) and feels their rights were violated needs to contact a shop steward immediately to have them file a grievance on their behalf. The more grievances filed the quicker Allied will acknowledge the members refuse to allow them to disrespect and violate their rights and get the matter resolved.
Members fought a long hard battle to earn these rights and everyone needs to help fight to protect these rights. Contact a shop steward today!
Shop Stewards List
Main Campus: Emmanuel Atiogbe, Misty McGowan, Najeeb Hussain, Roger Anderson, Irshad Ahmed, Paul Kane, Emeka Onyeagoro, and Mohamed Khellafi
Longwood Campus: Dominick DeLoretta, Arlene Yarde, and Eustance Pollard
Business School: Ed Flaherty and Bill Connelly
Southborough Campus: Betty Maitland
Kennedy School: Angie Cavallaro
Local Union Organizer
Matt Gulish 617-878-7555
mgulish@seiu615.org
When jobs go unposted it violates a members rights to relocate to a better area/job post, change shifts, to have set days off, etc.
Regardless of a officers reasoning for wanting to change posts the fact remains that they have a right to do so as long as they bid on the job within the time limits of the job posting and are the most senior officer meeting the job qualifications who bid on the job within the time limits set.
After a job has been posted and the time limit expires for existing officers to apply and providing no existing member bid then and only then Allied has the right to fill the position with a new hire.
We cannot continue to allow Allied to violate members rights and we all must be willing to stand up and fight back. Any member who feels they didn't have the opportunity to bid on a job for any reason (new hire, existing member with less seniority given job that went unposted, etc.) and feels their rights were violated needs to contact a shop steward immediately to have them file a grievance on their behalf. The more grievances filed the quicker Allied will acknowledge the members refuse to allow them to disrespect and violate their rights and get the matter resolved.
Members fought a long hard battle to earn these rights and everyone needs to help fight to protect these rights. Contact a shop steward today!
Shop Stewards List
Main Campus: Emmanuel Atiogbe, Misty McGowan, Najeeb Hussain, Roger Anderson, Irshad Ahmed, Paul Kane, Emeka Onyeagoro, and Mohamed Khellafi
Longwood Campus: Dominick DeLoretta, Arlene Yarde, and Eustance Pollard
Business School: Ed Flaherty and Bill Connelly
Southborough Campus: Betty Maitland
Kennedy School: Angie Cavallaro
Local Union Organizer
Matt Gulish 617-878-7555
mgulish@seiu615.org
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Other Union News.........
Largest labor organization endorses Obama
(CNN)—The AFL-CIO endorsed Sen. Barack Obama Thursday, kicking one of the broadest grassroots mobilizations in recent history into “high gear.”
“In so many ways―on jobs, health care, gas prices and the war in Iraq―our country is headed in the wrong direction,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement announcing the endorsement. “Barack Obama has proven from his days as an organizer, to his time in the Senate and his historic run for the presidency, that he’s leading the fight to turn around America."
The endorsement is expected to help rally support around the presumptive Democratic nominee in the critical swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota where union voters make up between 25 and 35 percent of the total vote.
With an outreach of more than 13 million registered voters in 24 ‘top-tier’ states, the AFL-CIO will send volunteers to the homes of 300,000 union voters, with the 56 member-unions collectively spending more than $200 million in the 2008 election between the presidential, Senate, and House races nationwide.
“We’ll work our hearts out for Barack Obama,” said AFSCME President and AFL-CIO Political Committee Chair Gerald McEntee. “Our program is going to be worker to worker and neighbor to neighbor. We’re ready to mobilize. We’re ready to rock and roll. This country and our people are ready for change.”
The group has been running an active campaign against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain since early March, aimed at defining the Arizona senator’s stances on jobs, trade and health care among union members. Currently, AFL-CIO volunteers have knocked on 60,000 doors and distributed 1.5 million flyers critical of the Arizona senator’s economic record.
(CNN)—The AFL-CIO endorsed Sen. Barack Obama Thursday, kicking one of the broadest grassroots mobilizations in recent history into “high gear.”
“In so many ways―on jobs, health care, gas prices and the war in Iraq―our country is headed in the wrong direction,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement announcing the endorsement. “Barack Obama has proven from his days as an organizer, to his time in the Senate and his historic run for the presidency, that he’s leading the fight to turn around America."
The endorsement is expected to help rally support around the presumptive Democratic nominee in the critical swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota where union voters make up between 25 and 35 percent of the total vote.
With an outreach of more than 13 million registered voters in 24 ‘top-tier’ states, the AFL-CIO will send volunteers to the homes of 300,000 union voters, with the 56 member-unions collectively spending more than $200 million in the 2008 election between the presidential, Senate, and House races nationwide.
“We’ll work our hearts out for Barack Obama,” said AFSCME President and AFL-CIO Political Committee Chair Gerald McEntee. “Our program is going to be worker to worker and neighbor to neighbor. We’re ready to mobilize. We’re ready to rock and roll. This country and our people are ready for change.”
The group has been running an active campaign against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain since early March, aimed at defining the Arizona senator’s stances on jobs, trade and health care among union members. Currently, AFL-CIO volunteers have knocked on 60,000 doors and distributed 1.5 million flyers critical of the Arizona senator’s economic record.
Dues Rates for 2008
The Local 615 dues percentage deduction is 2.5% of gross wages. Gross wages are defined as total compensation which includes vacation time, sick time, overtime, bonuses or shift differentials. Dues are not deducted from vacation cash advances.
Weekly Deductions
Category of Worker....Amount of Weekly dues deduction
Earning less than $213 per week ...............$ 6.27
Earning between $214 and $289 per week....$ 6.69
Earning between $290 and $432 per week...2.5% of gross weekly earnings
Earning more than $433 per week........$12.98
Monthly Deductions
Category of Worker....Amount of Monthly dues deduction
Earning less than $923 per month...........$27.00
Earning between $924 and $1,252 per month.....$30.00
Earning between $1,253 and $1,872 per month....2.5% of gross monthly earnings
Earning more than $1,873 per month......$56.00
INITIATION FEE
The initiation fee is three times (3X) the minimum dues taken in three monthly installments and deducted concurrently with regular dues deductions. This is a one-time, lifetime deduction.
Earning less than $923 per month...........$81.00
Earning more than $924 per month....... $90.00
Weekly Deductions
Category of Worker....Amount of Weekly dues deduction
Earning less than $213 per week ...............$ 6.27
Earning between $214 and $289 per week....$ 6.69
Earning between $290 and $432 per week...2.5% of gross weekly earnings
Earning more than $433 per week........$12.98
Monthly Deductions
Category of Worker....Amount of Monthly dues deduction
Earning less than $923 per month...........$27.00
Earning between $924 and $1,252 per month.....$30.00
Earning between $1,253 and $1,872 per month....2.5% of gross monthly earnings
Earning more than $1,873 per month......$56.00
INITIATION FEE
The initiation fee is three times (3X) the minimum dues taken in three monthly installments and deducted concurrently with regular dues deductions. This is a one-time, lifetime deduction.
Earning less than $923 per month...........$81.00
Earning more than $924 per month....... $90.00
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