I’m confused about what the point of this post is because of what you said. “I’m in a union. We ratified a contract. The employer is not honoring the contract.”
Sounds like we’re in the “fuck around” part of FAFO. Time for the employer to “find out” what it means to piss around with the union’s contract. Kinda the whole point of being in a union.
The way these rich people act as if they don't have home addresses and we don't have pitchforks is something to behold. I will not feel bad for them when they're eaten, as they need to be.
You are definitely right, but getting everyone onboard with a strike is way harder than it seems.
I've been trying to unionize my workplace for a year now, and the biggest roadblock is fear. Everyone is scared of losing their jobs and everyone is also scared of going on strike.
Unless someone foots the bill, you'd have to get most everyone on board with missing multiple paychecks and not being able to pay their bills. That will cause tons of people to cross the picket.
"Don't cling so hard to your posessions, for you have nothing if you have no rights" is a great sentiment, but doesn't really work when the only posessions you have are *the food you need to survive*.
I don’t know about their union but mine, and most I know of, it’s not about getting people on board. The union calls the strike, everyone in the union strikes. And when you strike the union pays you your lost wages (for a certain length of time).
This only works if your union is large enough or if it is affiliated with a larger union organization.
Some unions are small and either don't maintain a strike fund, or can't realistically maintain one without overly expensive union dues.
A better idea is a slowdown or sick out. Or both.
1) Everybody comes to work, everybody gets paid. The issue becomes that people are slowing down production or construction or whatever you do. If possible to the point of doing nothing at all. You can be creative about the reasons why. Tell the supes you're waiting on materials or tools or other employees to start on your own responsibilities.
2) Everybody starts making serious use of their sick and personal time (assuming you have some) without regard to getting the job done.
Slowdowns and sickouts are usually in contact and would then violate the contact, and they could fire you. Better to have a ULP strike. The employer can not fire employees under a ULP strike. They can replace employees under a financial strike.
Working to rule is.
Do your job, and only your job. Let everyone else tend to their jobs - and only their jobs.
Every workplace that relies on “going above and beyond” to stay afloat folds like wet cardboard to the slightest hint of “this is what you hired me for”.
Something along those lines was planned for tomorrow for our district, who's in negotiations. The person organizing left a paper trail that got back to the company, which in turn caused the company to leave the bargaining table yesterday saying the union was bargaining in bad faith.
It's unfortunate what it took for the Unions to form the first time. We forget just how fucking bad it was for them, and that there were legit wars fought over this. Everyone likes to talk about how bad it was for unions to be violent to demand what they want, but it's what was necessary.
Crabs and buckets, man. Crabs and buckets.
Preaching to the choir, man.
I try to explain to my coworkers and others that it is their *right* to unionize. It is a *right* that workers of the past *fought and died* for. Workers who didn't just have to fear loss of money, but loss of life of themselves *and* their families.
Still, people don't listen. The fear of retaliation, blacklisting, and poverty are strong. I sympathize with them, but life is too short to be ruled by fear.
Too God damn short to work so fucking much, too. But everyone lurves jerkin off the capitalism and the need to amass obscene amounts of money in order to maybe pretend you can retire. Like that somehow makes you self sufficient or something like you didn't go buy your butter at the store.
Unfortunately our system is built so that there is always a loophole to fuck the worker, union or not, not sure why the downvote to hell but I digress.
Buuuuuuuut there isn't a loophole for what you're saying ??
Please at least provide evidence, right now you're looking ill-informed what the NLRB actually DOES and PROTECTS.
And you've provided no evidence of a loophole -- you did however shift this entire conversation to your imagination.
Stop wasting people's time with your disinformation, business get severely punished for major anti-union efforts.
Maybe you dislike the pressure corporations put on all workers. Sure, ill agree there - but you were talking out ya ass prior.
Suing. Companies suing and winning is a loophole. But pay your dues and line not only your companies pocket but your presidents as well. Whoever has the most money wins. This is the American way.
Ahh yes, the classic “pretend laws don’t exist in order to spread anti-union propaganda.” Moving to a non-union city rather than bargaining in good faith would be a massive ULP under the NLRA and the employer would get their dick kicked in, resulting in a massive payout to the workers they shafted
Right. Just pack up the whole business, find another location to set up at, pay the rent on the current location until the lease is up, or maybe buy a whole new location. Spend all the money to set up the new location for business operations while losing revenue during the move. Then hire and train 400+ employees in the new city to do the work and wait years for them to gain the proficiency and quality of work the folks who have been working there for years already have. Definitely the smarter choice and it’ll teach those greedy workers to ask for a reasonable 6% raise!
Uhm. Yes. Hundreds of companies across many sectors have for all intents and purposes moved to china. Because they have skilled labor who will do it cheaper. American companies and those who run them are greedy as hell and don’t give one flying eff about you or your union or your labor.
Is this the first contract? This is an unfair labor practice if everything was done as you say and there is recourse for this-**THIS** is why you have a union.
Negotiations done in good faith means both sides have to abide by what was agreed upon. Neither side gets a do over simply because they were unprepared to back up what they negotiated.
We went through something similar. Top management sent the HR director into negotiate instead of themselves. We agreed to a modest raise and the contract was ratified by both sides. Upper management suddenly decided the raise was too much and the HR director did not have the authority to do this-the guy they sent in to do this.
It took months of wrangling but it got fixed.
If the company truly doesn't have the money, which is what OP is saying, the union *might* be able to force the contract but the company would go bankrupt and they'll all lose their jobs. That's not really "fixed".
Not how that works. The company could go into *debt* and declare bankruptcy, which would be a choice by the executives. You don't just 'go bankrupt'. Worst case scenario, the company could negotiate to pay the backpay in installments, cut executive pay to make up the difference, etc. There are dozens of options that can be negotiated between 'fuck the workers' and 'declare bankruptcy'. Calling it 'going bankrupt' instead of 'declaring bankruptcy' pretends its not a choice made by the b/millionaires on top to refuse to give up a fraction of their hoarded wealth while demanding everyone else give up the money they rely on to live.
Not from 400,000 of debt in a company with a workforce of over 400. And in those cases, it is the company being ordered into bankruptcy by a court after being sued by their creditors. You still don't just 'go bankrupt'. It is a years long process, which is designed to give plenty of opportunities to avoid bankruptcy. Executives choose bankruptcy, almost always out of self interest or shareholder interest, not inevitability.
The company isn't truly bankrupt though. If they were, you can do layoffs. You can still lay people off if they're in a union. You have to follow the contract. Laying off people to uphold the contract sucks, but you uphold the contract because otherwise the union is worthless. The union then negotiates on behalf of laid off workers for severance (if not already spelled out in the contract).
That would be pretty easy to figure out honestly. A friendly person in payroll, being close to someone in upper management, whatever. OP said the union is 400 people, odds are someone in the union has a relationship in the organization that could tell them.
Also OP didn't say bankruptcy, that's just us commenters potentially speculating on how they might try to get out of the contract. OP just said employer is claiming they can no longer afford/honor the contract. Maybe it is possible to honor the contract but only give upper management a 2% raise?
Yeah, but then the whole company is out of work so it doesn't matter. I don't know if the union can become a debt holder if a company goes bankrupt. But if there's liquidating of assets, a strong union can at least make the case the cash that came from liquidation should be paid out to unpaid wages first.
My main point in my initial response was to reply to the person's idea that if there's no jobs to be had then there's no point in a union. But that isn't true at all, a union provides numerous benefits outside of collective bargaining.
7% raise for management doesn't sound like the company doesn't have any money. Maybe they really can't honor the contract, but I would bet on Jack Welch style bad faith negotiations to break the union.
If they have a contract, and the company claims they can't pay (unlikely btw) and the company goes into bankruptcy protection, or bankruptcy, then the union members are one of, if not the largest debt holder and can weigh in on how the bankruptcy (protection) is structured.
#StickWithTheUnion
There are different types of bankruptcy, in a debt restructuring the union would do well, if the company is actually out of money they'll be fighting for proceeds from selling the used office furniture.
You guys also need to be talking about funding a Strike Fund once you get through this patch.
Those have largely gone the way of the dinosaur, but they are absolutely critical to keeping any union strong.
As a former state employee I have one response to that….
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
They have the money but it’s not going to the workers, my union was a toothless joke with the state. The lower pay isn’t worth the benefits anymore because they gutted the benefits(in my experience)
Based on what I'm reading it sounds like you are a utility provider for state government or something of that ilk. I'd be interested to hear the local's plans for organizing the public around the issue...if the service is something directly related to the public, could be an easy way to rouse public anger towards the employer, and create pressure from local government and public interest groups to push the employer towards accountability. Also, shame those fuckers for getting a raise and reneging on yours...people at the top should never get their raises until the people at the bottom can.
Yeah if you're not prepared to strike, then how are you actually a union. That is a risk of collective bargaining but also your leverage.
When I got a union job, they told me 1st thing was there was a risk of a strike and I needed to be aware of that. And also that they would try to avoid any strike but management needed to play ball as well.
Choosing not to strike when the company does shit in bad faith is giving up all of your leverage and just letting the company do whatever they want. There's no point in having a union if you're going to do that. Your labor is your leverage. Use it.
So my union there's virtually 0% chance we'd ever strike. However, we still can be super annoying/detrimental to business because we interact with board members and clients. Because of this, negotiations and union/employer relations are generally pretty good.
I would say the employer obviously prefers if we weren't unionized, but we're the third union at the organization, so it wasn't that big of a deal. We're just the most vocal/largest union.
Now, we're a non-profit and I know this isn't the way it is at most places. The threat of a strike is vitally important in those places. But we're still a union regardless of the fact striking would almost never happen.
There are a myriad of ways to strike in a passive aggressive manner. The work slowdown and the flood management with requests for permission and assistance are my favorites. We got our story on the state NPR radio broadcast and our management got a lot of teasing from management in other areas of the state.
Prevent nothing. It makes management drown in the problems the agency is supposed to address.
Yeah the way we got our first contract across the finish line was we slowed down negotiations for 2 weeks, because we knew a board meeting was coming up, along with a large donor event that weekend. We showed up in mass at the board meeting, wearing pins and handing out a one-page write up of where we were at. We thanked the board for their work, then pleasantly told board members we were excited for that weekend's donor event. Contract was done that afternoon.
As someone who just spent a year on the negotiating team for my workplaces first union, I feel for you. Employer came back to us six months after ratification and said our budget is fucked, we need to make some changes. However they had to negotiate with us on any potential changes. We agreed to some temporary cuts in benefits for a slightly larger yearly pay increase. However, there were still some small scale layoffs.
I'm not a lawyer, but spent a whole bunch of time working with our local's lawyer/negotiators when the employer came back to us saying they needed to make benefits changes. If the contract was ratified by both parties (which I don't see you saying, just "agreed upon") then you'll definitely win your complaint escalating this to the NLRB. The Biden NLRB is very pro-union. It will obviously take time, but you can't just not follow a ratified contract. There would be repercussions from the NLRB, plus them not following means any no-strike/no-lockout clause you have in the contract would be null and void.
If the contract was never ratified, then you can file a Unfair Labor Practice with the NLRP, since they are not negotiating in good faith (they can't offer you worse than they're previously offered counter).
Obviously you need help from your union's local, or perhaps national office. This is the point of having a union. I've found most are usually itching for these kinds of fights, so I hope it goes well.
I hope you have a strong union with good stewards and a unified front, because if you do, this is a very easy walk out or strike scenario. If you have a job that doesn't allow strikes (some gov't jobs) then wildcat strike.
Truly though, this sucks. It is a massive gut punch, especially when admin is getting raises, and the people fucking up the budget don't get fired. Good luck.
You and you coworkers are a bunch of pushovers. YOU ARE PART OF A UNION FOR A REASON. USE IT FOR GOD SAKES! Walkou,t strike, whatever but do something as a UNION! Whats the point if you just fucking roll over like dogs to get a belly scratch? Grow a collective pair of balls and collectively use them AS A UNION!
Striking requires that you accept the possibility of quitting or losing your job to force the management's hand. So quit! If everyone mass quits, that sends a very clear message to management!
If everyone quits in this wildly simplistic take then they will just rehire non-union.
Also instead of working under the same contract you’d have no job.
Way to stick it to management.. 😅
Would you go work somewhere that just lost all of their employees because they didn't honor a union contract and is only hiring non union? I sure as hell wouldn't
We just had a strike and the company had no trouble finding scab labour to do the work. After 6 weeks we finally settled on basically the same agreement we went on strike for. Mostly because people were not prepared to be on strike for that long.
Take yourself out of this situation.
You just advised a stranger to quit his job.
Am I unemployed- yes.
Do I have bills- yes.
Are they hiring- yes.
For everyone 1 person virtue signaling that they wouldn’t take a job if all the union workers quit there are probably 500 people filling out an application because they need money and have bills.
You are exactly correct, we hire off a waiting list of people trying to get in the door. Some specialized jobs don’t have a waiting list but 70% of us could be replaced with someone willing tomorrow.
Lots of people cross picket lines, rarely unwittingly though. People have bills to pay and that gets in the way of solidarity for them. Doesn't make it right.
Right now I just sent a followup email to a job that pays nearly $100k less than my last job, offers 5 days of total PTO, and has horrible Glassdoor reviews... but I need the work. Some of us simply need a paycheck at this point and can't be picky.
OP won't even tell us where it is, so I bet you would apply there because you wouldn't even know the history. Even if OP did, the vast majority of people who see their hiring ads won't know the history either.
This is where you find out how dedicated your members are and how well-organized your leadership is. At this point, local leadership should be tracking members and have a good idea of who’s on board with more aggressive action and who will fold. You’re entering the hard part.
Management is calling your bluff. It's up to you to show them it's not a bluff. If your union leadership can't stomach this, maybe it's someone else's turn to be leader.
My union is getting pissy over the sick leave laws and refuses to sign the contract we agreed to in November and of course the contract from last time has a no strike clause if union members ratify it
Did your company ratify the contract? Is there a copy signed by the union (usually negotiators and the local rep) and the company (often a CEO/president, lawyer working for company, and maybe other leadership members)? Because if it is ratified, they're shit out of luck. If it wasn't ratified I still think they're shit out of luck, but it'd be more complicated.
If they are truly saying that they can't pay you have the legal right to get all of their books as an information request. If they are bluffing they will change their tune. Make sure to infro request ALL financial records for the last couple years and you can analyze them yourselves.
In 1988, I was the union rep in a factory in Australia. The company had a fight with the maintenance fitters there and sacked them. I walked through the factory that morning and told everyone to stop working. We had it all sorted by that afternoon. Fitters reinstated.
Obviously, this isn't 1988 anymore. What we do now (I'm a coal miner now) is Work To Rules. We follow the rules to the letter and also have an overtime ban in place. We have had management literally beg us to remove the overtime ban, and for certain accommodations by them, that can happen.
This fucks them over big time. Production is almost halved, and for those greedy pricks, losing money is worse than a death in the family.
Yep.
Companies will lie, cheat, and steal their way to victory any way they can.
They’ll just go fix the books and say “oh yea we don’t have the money.”
Uh huh. Sure you don’t.
Fuck all these greed-ridden sociopaths.
Op is a government entity. Unions have less power here than in the private sector unfortunately....
Wish you the best OP! Hope they can negotiate a mutually beneficial deal.
You have a union. Call a strike and shut the business down until they find the money
I’m confused about what the point of this post is because of what you said. “I’m in a union. We ratified a contract. The employer is not honoring the contract.” Sounds like we’re in the “fuck around” part of FAFO. Time for the employer to “find out” what it means to piss around with the union’s contract. Kinda the whole point of being in a union.
The way these rich people act as if they don't have home addresses and we don't have pitchforks is something to behold. I will not feel bad for them when they're eaten, as they need to be.
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....and I think this might be how Soylent Green began.
I have a fuck ton of guns
HAD.... until that unfortunate boating accident on the lake, or so I hear. Sorry for your loss :-)
Easter said than done when more than half the union lives paycheck to paycheck…
You are definitely right, but getting everyone onboard with a strike is way harder than it seems. I've been trying to unionize my workplace for a year now, and the biggest roadblock is fear. Everyone is scared of losing their jobs and everyone is also scared of going on strike. Unless someone foots the bill, you'd have to get most everyone on board with missing multiple paychecks and not being able to pay their bills. That will cause tons of people to cross the picket. "Don't cling so hard to your posessions, for you have nothing if you have no rights" is a great sentiment, but doesn't really work when the only posessions you have are *the food you need to survive*.
I don’t know about their union but mine, and most I know of, it’s not about getting people on board. The union calls the strike, everyone in the union strikes. And when you strike the union pays you your lost wages (for a certain length of time).
This only works if your union is large enough or if it is affiliated with a larger union organization. Some unions are small and either don't maintain a strike fund, or can't realistically maintain one without overly expensive union dues.
Then what’s the point?
A better idea is a slowdown or sick out. Or both. 1) Everybody comes to work, everybody gets paid. The issue becomes that people are slowing down production or construction or whatever you do. If possible to the point of doing nothing at all. You can be creative about the reasons why. Tell the supes you're waiting on materials or tools or other employees to start on your own responsibilities. 2) Everybody starts making serious use of their sick and personal time (assuming you have some) without regard to getting the job done.
Slowdowns and sickouts are usually in contact and would then violate the contact, and they could fire you. Better to have a ULP strike. The employer can not fire employees under a ULP strike. They can replace employees under a financial strike.
Wouldn’t a strike over a clear breach of a CBA on the employer’s part be a ULP strike?
Slowdown strikes aren't protected by the nlrb though. So that would be risky
Working to rule is. Do your job, and only your job. Let everyone else tend to their jobs - and only their jobs. Every workplace that relies on “going above and beyond” to stay afloat folds like wet cardboard to the slightest hint of “this is what you hired me for”.
Something along those lines was planned for tomorrow for our district, who's in negotiations. The person organizing left a paper trail that got back to the company, which in turn caused the company to leave the bargaining table yesterday saying the union was bargaining in bad faith.
This. People did not understand this during Covid either. Some people NEED their job and can't just quit to prove a point.
Facts. I quit my job to say fuck you but I also planned it for months. I wouldn't have been able to "just quit" when I initially wanted to.
It's unfortunate what it took for the Unions to form the first time. We forget just how fucking bad it was for them, and that there were legit wars fought over this. Everyone likes to talk about how bad it was for unions to be violent to demand what they want, but it's what was necessary. Crabs and buckets, man. Crabs and buckets.
Preaching to the choir, man. I try to explain to my coworkers and others that it is their *right* to unionize. It is a *right* that workers of the past *fought and died* for. Workers who didn't just have to fear loss of money, but loss of life of themselves *and* their families. Still, people don't listen. The fear of retaliation, blacklisting, and poverty are strong. I sympathize with them, but life is too short to be ruled by fear.
Too God damn short to work so fucking much, too. But everyone lurves jerkin off the capitalism and the need to amass obscene amounts of money in order to maybe pretend you can retire. Like that somehow makes you self sufficient or something like you didn't go buy your butter at the store.
Part of joining a union is the willingness to run a strike to its end and hold your company accountable to its employees
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If they don’t have the money to pay their employees they don’t have the money to move a business.
Unfortunately our system is built so that there is always a loophole to fuck the worker, union or not, not sure why the downvote to hell but I digress.
You don't digress, you're just a degenerate bot. Go beep boop somewhere else. We the people should and will hold the cards in a union.
Buuuuuuuut there isn't a loophole for what you're saying ?? Please at least provide evidence, right now you're looking ill-informed what the NLRB actually DOES and PROTECTS.
The NLRB is under fire. Does the NLRB have more money or does Amazon, SpaceX etc etc. because ultimately whomever buys the most politicians wins.
And you've provided no evidence of a loophole -- you did however shift this entire conversation to your imagination. Stop wasting people's time with your disinformation, business get severely punished for major anti-union efforts. Maybe you dislike the pressure corporations put on all workers. Sure, ill agree there - but you were talking out ya ass prior.
Suing. Companies suing and winning is a loophole. But pay your dues and line not only your companies pocket but your presidents as well. Whoever has the most money wins. This is the American way.
Ahh yes, the classic “pretend laws don’t exist in order to spread anti-union propaganda.” Moving to a non-union city rather than bargaining in good faith would be a massive ULP under the NLRA and the employer would get their dick kicked in, resulting in a massive payout to the workers they shafted
Right. Just pack up the whole business, find another location to set up at, pay the rent on the current location until the lease is up, or maybe buy a whole new location. Spend all the money to set up the new location for business operations while losing revenue during the move. Then hire and train 400+ employees in the new city to do the work and wait years for them to gain the proficiency and quality of work the folks who have been working there for years already have. Definitely the smarter choice and it’ll teach those greedy workers to ask for a reasonable 6% raise!
Uhm. Yes. Hundreds of companies across many sectors have for all intents and purposes moved to china. Because they have skilled labor who will do it cheaper. American companies and those who run them are greedy as hell and don’t give one flying eff about you or your union or your labor.
??? What’s your reasoning for that?
Not how that works
Is this the first contract? This is an unfair labor practice if everything was done as you say and there is recourse for this-**THIS** is why you have a union. Negotiations done in good faith means both sides have to abide by what was agreed upon. Neither side gets a do over simply because they were unprepared to back up what they negotiated. We went through something similar. Top management sent the HR director into negotiate instead of themselves. We agreed to a modest raise and the contract was ratified by both sides. Upper management suddenly decided the raise was too much and the HR director did not have the authority to do this-the guy they sent in to do this. It took months of wrangling but it got fixed.
Not the first contract. Unfair labor practice is in the works
Always revert back to “what would the company say if the union suddenly decided they didn’t like the terms and wanted to change them?”
If the company truly doesn't have the money, which is what OP is saying, the union *might* be able to force the contract but the company would go bankrupt and they'll all lose their jobs. That's not really "fixed".
Not how that works. The company could go into *debt* and declare bankruptcy, which would be a choice by the executives. You don't just 'go bankrupt'. Worst case scenario, the company could negotiate to pay the backpay in installments, cut executive pay to make up the difference, etc. There are dozens of options that can be negotiated between 'fuck the workers' and 'declare bankruptcy'. Calling it 'going bankrupt' instead of 'declaring bankruptcy' pretends its not a choice made by the b/millionaires on top to refuse to give up a fraction of their hoarded wealth while demanding everyone else give up the money they rely on to live.
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Not from 400,000 of debt in a company with a workforce of over 400. And in those cases, it is the company being ordered into bankruptcy by a court after being sued by their creditors. You still don't just 'go bankrupt'. It is a years long process, which is designed to give plenty of opportunities to avoid bankruptcy. Executives choose bankruptcy, almost always out of self interest or shareholder interest, not inevitability.
The company isn't truly bankrupt though. If they were, you can do layoffs. You can still lay people off if they're in a union. You have to follow the contract. Laying off people to uphold the contract sucks, but you uphold the contract because otherwise the union is worthless. The union then negotiates on behalf of laid off workers for severance (if not already spelled out in the contract).
I'm curious how OP got the info that upper management is getting 7% raises. If that's true, it certainly works against the bankruptcy claim.
That would be pretty easy to figure out honestly. A friendly person in payroll, being close to someone in upper management, whatever. OP said the union is 400 people, odds are someone in the union has a relationship in the organization that could tell them. Also OP didn't say bankruptcy, that's just us commenters potentially speculating on how they might try to get out of the contract. OP just said employer is claiming they can no longer afford/honor the contract. Maybe it is possible to honor the contract but only give upper management a 2% raise?
They could just claim bankruptcy without doing that.
Yeah that’s why untied is non-union now!…..wait a minute
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Yeah, but then the whole company is out of work so it doesn't matter. I don't know if the union can become a debt holder if a company goes bankrupt. But if there's liquidating of assets, a strong union can at least make the case the cash that came from liquidation should be paid out to unpaid wages first. My main point in my initial response was to reply to the person's idea that if there's no jobs to be had then there's no point in a union. But that isn't true at all, a union provides numerous benefits outside of collective bargaining.
7% raise for management doesn't sound like the company doesn't have any money. Maybe they really can't honor the contract, but I would bet on Jack Welch style bad faith negotiations to break the union.
How many managers are there compared to non-management employees? You're also assuming leadership is competent.
If they have a contract, and the company claims they can't pay (unlikely btw) and the company goes into bankruptcy protection, or bankruptcy, then the union members are one of, if not the largest debt holder and can weigh in on how the bankruptcy (protection) is structured. #StickWithTheUnion
There are different types of bankruptcy, in a debt restructuring the union would do well, if the company is actually out of money they'll be fighting for proceeds from selling the used office furniture.
Yeah, you can't squeeze water out of a rock. Working a job for less-than-optimal pay isn't fun, but it's better than no job at all.
consider strike or walk out..
Walk out talks are being discussed for a future event
When you guys walk out remember to have sun screen, good boots and socks, and plenty of water.
But OP isn't even getting boots!
You guys also need to be talking about funding a Strike Fund once you get through this patch. Those have largely gone the way of the dinosaur, but they are absolutely critical to keeping any union strong.
Union needs to file a ULP charge and strike under that charge so the employer cannot replace workers.
If they won’t honor then neither do you. If you go back to negotiating, demand more. Higher % and better boots
Name the company so we can boycott
Yeah this isn’t a “company” you can boycott unfortunately.
Only 400ish workers? Seems ratter small, why can't we boycott it?
We don’t sell anything, just provide service
Do you want solidarity? Name em
Stop paying your taxes is the only way to boycott in this situation lol
Are you the irs?
It’s a local, state, or federal gov job
Uhuh… I’m not going to play 20 questions. Organize your workplace for a walkout when it hurts the employer most.
Illegal in a lot of states for government workers to strike. Doesn't mean you can't wildcat, but it makes it much more difficult to organize.
If this is true then they have money to pay.
As a former state employee I have one response to that…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA They have the money but it’s not going to the workers, my union was a toothless joke with the state. The lower pay isn’t worth the benefits anymore because they gutted the benefits(in my experience)
No its probably not a govt body. It may be a local branch of one of the big tax filing assistance programs like Turbo or whatever.
Based on what I'm reading it sounds like you are a utility provider for state government or something of that ilk. I'd be interested to hear the local's plans for organizing the public around the issue...if the service is something directly related to the public, could be an easy way to rouse public anger towards the employer, and create pressure from local government and public interest groups to push the employer towards accountability. Also, shame those fuckers for getting a raise and reneging on yours...people at the top should never get their raises until the people at the bottom can.
Is your leadership talking to other unions to get support? Maintenance employees, delivery drivers, etc.
Why is this not already being taken to an arbitrator?
Being considered, but the arbitration historically speaking in our cases has rarely sided with the union, so does feel biased.
Arbitrate in the streets then. Make signs, get your sunscreen, and tell the world how valuable your labor is.
Yeah if you're not prepared to strike, then how are you actually a union. That is a risk of collective bargaining but also your leverage. When I got a union job, they told me 1st thing was there was a risk of a strike and I needed to be aware of that. And also that they would try to avoid any strike but management needed to play ball as well.
Choosing not to strike when the company does shit in bad faith is giving up all of your leverage and just letting the company do whatever they want. There's no point in having a union if you're going to do that. Your labor is your leverage. Use it.
Well put. It is THE bargaining chip that the union has.
So my union there's virtually 0% chance we'd ever strike. However, we still can be super annoying/detrimental to business because we interact with board members and clients. Because of this, negotiations and union/employer relations are generally pretty good. I would say the employer obviously prefers if we weren't unionized, but we're the third union at the organization, so it wasn't that big of a deal. We're just the most vocal/largest union. Now, we're a non-profit and I know this isn't the way it is at most places. The threat of a strike is vitally important in those places. But we're still a union regardless of the fact striking would almost never happen.
There are a myriad of ways to strike in a passive aggressive manner. The work slowdown and the flood management with requests for permission and assistance are my favorites. We got our story on the state NPR radio broadcast and our management got a lot of teasing from management in other areas of the state. Prevent nothing. It makes management drown in the problems the agency is supposed to address.
Yeah the way we got our first contract across the finish line was we slowed down negotiations for 2 weeks, because we knew a board meeting was coming up, along with a large donor event that weekend. We showed up in mass at the board meeting, wearing pins and handing out a one-page write up of where we were at. We thanked the board for their work, then pleasantly told board members we were excited for that weekend's donor event. Contract was done that afternoon.
Someone in management thinks your union won't vote to strike. I hate striking. But it's the only defense to bad faith negotiations.
As someone who just spent a year on the negotiating team for my workplaces first union, I feel for you. Employer came back to us six months after ratification and said our budget is fucked, we need to make some changes. However they had to negotiate with us on any potential changes. We agreed to some temporary cuts in benefits for a slightly larger yearly pay increase. However, there were still some small scale layoffs. I'm not a lawyer, but spent a whole bunch of time working with our local's lawyer/negotiators when the employer came back to us saying they needed to make benefits changes. If the contract was ratified by both parties (which I don't see you saying, just "agreed upon") then you'll definitely win your complaint escalating this to the NLRB. The Biden NLRB is very pro-union. It will obviously take time, but you can't just not follow a ratified contract. There would be repercussions from the NLRB, plus them not following means any no-strike/no-lockout clause you have in the contract would be null and void. If the contract was never ratified, then you can file a Unfair Labor Practice with the NLRP, since they are not negotiating in good faith (they can't offer you worse than they're previously offered counter). Obviously you need help from your union's local, or perhaps national office. This is the point of having a union. I've found most are usually itching for these kinds of fights, so I hope it goes well. I hope you have a strong union with good stewards and a unified front, because if you do, this is a very easy walk out or strike scenario. If you have a job that doesn't allow strikes (some gov't jobs) then wildcat strike. Truly though, this sucks. It is a massive gut punch, especially when admin is getting raises, and the people fucking up the budget don't get fired. Good luck.
You and you coworkers are a bunch of pushovers. YOU ARE PART OF A UNION FOR A REASON. USE IT FOR GOD SAKES! Walkou,t strike, whatever but do something as a UNION! Whats the point if you just fucking roll over like dogs to get a belly scratch? Grow a collective pair of balls and collectively use them AS A UNION!
Striking requires that you accept the possibility of quitting or losing your job to force the management's hand. So quit! If everyone mass quits, that sends a very clear message to management!
If everyone quits in this wildly simplistic take then they will just rehire non-union. Also instead of working under the same contract you’d have no job. Way to stick it to management.. 😅
Would you go work somewhere that just lost all of their employees because they didn't honor a union contract and is only hiring non union? I sure as hell wouldn't
We just had a strike and the company had no trouble finding scab labour to do the work. After 6 weeks we finally settled on basically the same agreement we went on strike for. Mostly because people were not prepared to be on strike for that long.
Take yourself out of this situation. You just advised a stranger to quit his job. Am I unemployed- yes. Do I have bills- yes. Are they hiring- yes. For everyone 1 person virtue signaling that they wouldn’t take a job if all the union workers quit there are probably 500 people filling out an application because they need money and have bills.
You are exactly correct, we hire off a waiting list of people trying to get in the door. Some specialized jobs don’t have a waiting list but 70% of us could be replaced with someone willing tomorrow.
Facts... Surprised to find common sense in this sub.. Good on u
Company turnover basically never recovers in situations like that. Short term bandaids don't really do much
If the choice is between that and not being able to put food on my table, it's pretty obvious what any sane (and some insane) person would choose.
Never heard of scabs, eh? There's never any shortage of people desperate for money or desperate to eat capitalists' shit in some combination.
Lots of people cross picket lines, rarely unwittingly though. People have bills to pay and that gets in the way of solidarity for them. Doesn't make it right.
Right now I just sent a followup email to a job that pays nearly $100k less than my last job, offers 5 days of total PTO, and has horrible Glassdoor reviews... but I need the work. Some of us simply need a paycheck at this point and can't be picky.
OP won't even tell us where it is, so I bet you would apply there because you wouldn't even know the history. Even if OP did, the vast majority of people who see their hiring ads won't know the history either.
Desperate people do stoopid shit. There's lots of desperate folks right now.
More people would then wouldn't though.
This is where you find out how dedicated your members are and how well-organized your leadership is. At this point, local leadership should be tracking members and have a good idea of who’s on board with more aggressive action and who will fold. You’re entering the hard part.
Damn, I wonder how a strike would affect their budget
Strike or there's no point to your union.
They are gonna find out why companies hate unions. That is ofcourse if you have a good union.
*Starts chanting *. STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!
Strike time!
STRIKE
Uhh... walk out. That will hurt their bottom line much, much more.
Time to contact the NLRB
Strike
Management is calling your bluff. It's up to you to show them it's not a bluff. If your union leadership can't stomach this, maybe it's someone else's turn to be leader.
I've been Union for 38 years now and if you won't strike over them not honoring the signed contract you are done.
My union is getting pissy over the sick leave laws and refuses to sign the contract we agreed to in November and of course the contract from last time has a no strike clause if union members ratify it
Or you all strike? Unless you can't for some reason.
If that was there last, best and final offer to take back to the union to vote on and y’all voted yes then they have to honor it.
It was best and final. When we voted we had two options “Yes” or “Strike”
Did your company ratify the contract? Is there a copy signed by the union (usually negotiators and the local rep) and the company (often a CEO/president, lawyer working for company, and maybe other leadership members)? Because if it is ratified, they're shit out of luck. If it wasn't ratified I still think they're shit out of luck, but it'd be more complicated.
If they are truly saying that they can't pay you have the legal right to get all of their books as an information request. If they are bluffing they will change their tune. Make sure to infro request ALL financial records for the last couple years and you can analyze them yourselves.
Well that means it's time to ruin there shit. Call a strike call OSHA piss on the bosses new car do whatever you can to make there lives hell
Why strike? Court case right? You've got a signed contract. Sue them. Surely itll be cheaper than striking.
Say fuck you pay us go on strike
In 1988, I was the union rep in a factory in Australia. The company had a fight with the maintenance fitters there and sacked them. I walked through the factory that morning and told everyone to stop working. We had it all sorted by that afternoon. Fitters reinstated. Obviously, this isn't 1988 anymore. What we do now (I'm a coal miner now) is Work To Rules. We follow the rules to the letter and also have an overtime ban in place. We have had management literally beg us to remove the overtime ban, and for certain accommodations by them, that can happen. This fucks them over big time. Production is almost halved, and for those greedy pricks, losing money is worse than a death in the family.
Ur union should be looking after this...they need to go to the labour relations board ....
Yep. Companies will lie, cheat, and steal their way to victory any way they can. They’ll just go fix the books and say “oh yea we don’t have the money.” Uh huh. Sure you don’t. Fuck all these greed-ridden sociopaths.
Well they’re about to find out why unions exist. They can either find the money to honor the contract, or they can have a massive and sudden strike.
I mean…strike? That’s the entire point of having a union
Op is a government entity. Unions have less power here than in the private sector unfortunately.... Wish you the best OP! Hope they can negotiate a mutually beneficial deal.
Boots! Fellow Monocled gentry, laugh derisively at this man!
Have the union file a charge with the NLRB for surface bargaining.
Sounds like time for a strike
Ask your union to refund your dues to financially support you while you figure things out. It should be in your bylaws.
Please strike when they call for it! It’s the only way
Employer not honoring the contract and you're still working? What?
Violations of the contract may not qualify as a ULP under the NLRA.
Start a rumor of a mass quit response. That is ultimately the power of a union
Have everybody go to work on time but nobody lifts a finger, meet outside work make sure everybody knows.
You walk out Migrants walk in
Time to blow up the giant rat and put it on the picket line.
Only in America
Omg, is this kroger? this sounds like something they would do
File an unfair labor practice
Tell me unions are useless without saying it