There is still no new information that I have on the PV/GQ outsourcing, or the 20% arbitration answer. Many people are talking about the rumor of an answer to the 20% case, but when I was with our attorney Nick Manicone this week I asked him about this. He told me that to date he has heard nothing about a resolution. As soon as I know anything about either item I will post the information to the blog and do an e-mail blast.
There was an EEOC ruling in San Francisco regarding overtime assignments on light duty. From what I understand, as far as the financial settlement is concerned, this ruling is only for the San Francisco Airport. The Company agreed they would no longer enforce a policy forbidding light duty personnel the opportunity to work overtime. Here is a copy of the EEOC press release.
Work continues on the station closing grievance. Nick Manicone has been putting a lot of effort into this, and I was able to meet with him on Wednesday to give some technical input. As I said last week this is definitely the right guy to represent us and it still appears to me that the Union has a very good case. Nick took a little time out of his schedule to introduce me to David Bourne the Airline Division Director. I was impressed with David's grasp of our issues, and found him to be an intelligent man with a purpose driven direction. David told me about all of the work being done on the Hill and he feels confident we will succeed in getting legislation to help us moving forward. He asked that we all continue to fill out the outsourcing surveys. This is important because members of Congress are considering hearings on this matter and we want our message to be heard, and also because the ARSA is lobbying hard against us telling Congress there are no problems with outsourcing. David also shared a video with me he found regarding what the public knows about outsourcing. It can be found here.
This week in MM a couple of things were reported to me. The first issue was nothing new but it is starting to get worse. That is the foremen doing our work in the form of creating deferred items for us then calling to tell us to put stickers or placards on the plane to finish the item. This would not be a problem if it was mechanics asking for help, but that does not appear to be the case. The next item was along the same lines, and that is the constant calling of mechanics to get updates. I think we all understand getting calls for updates but it was reported that this is getting much worse to the point where it is getting in the way of accomplishing our jobs. I brought both of these issues to management and was told they would work on this. Please let me know if this does not subside because while the second issue is not a contract violation the first one certainly is as this is both leading and directing and performing hourly rated work. The next thing that was brought to my attention was our role in removing pornography from aircraft cockpits. I informed management that it was very possible that many of our members may be offended by having to accomplish this task. Management told me they would make this a briefing item and inform all of you of your right not to participate in this exercise.
In PV there was a serious discussion regarding time reporting. The company was asking for specific reporting encompassing only seven hours every day. You don't have to be a great strategist or mind reader to figure out the reason for this. If the company knows exactly what you do and how long each job takes, then it would be easier to have an outside vendor accurately bid on this work. I spoke with several people in both shops and it is my very strong opinion that you need to account for nine hours each day in a much less specific manner. I also met with Dave Hunter to express my outrage at this obvious first step toward eliminating work from this shop. Dave informed me that there was a management meeting scheduled for Tuesday the 14th and he would express my position to those in attendance. On another note, I met with Steve Loughman and we have decided that the last Wednesday of each month at 2pm will be designated as the time for Labor – Management meetings. Any open issues will be discussed as well as any Second Step grievances.
I met with several dayshift members in GQ this week and I have nothing new to report from this shop. However the EEOC story at the top of the page came from Eric Harger.
The jackets have been ordered. If you had not paid already you will be included in the next order.
Negotiations will begin on Tuesday in Chicago. I'm certain I will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, but I promise to give you all the information I am legally allowed to divulge.
That's all for this week,
Bob
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