Local 5089 Bargaining Update, July 24
HPAE met with management for another bargaining session on Friday, July 19th. We had a serious discussion regarding several proposals which management presented that directly attack the rights of our members, such as:
- Extending probationary period by the length of an approved leave of absence, which would only expand management’s ability to terminate members without cause.
- Only Counting hours actually worked when computing overtime
Management claims that their proposals will enhance their ability to fully evaluate any member who must take an approved leave of absence during their probationary period. Unfortunately, the fundamental flaw in management’s argument relates to current members that are on probation due to a transfer to another position voluntarily or as a result of a layoff/departmental reorganization. HPAE reminded management of their current ability to extend one’s probation should the need arise as well as advised that they were conflating the benefits of probation with that of orientation.
We also discussed HPAE’s proposal to ensure that every member is entitled to mutual respect in the workplace which management continues to reject despite acknowledging that a culture of bullying exists throughout the facility. Management continues to insist that any allegations of workplace bullying are successfully addressed through Corporate Compliance or Labor Relations however they were only able to cite a few examples as such. We will continue to address this issue as this issue continues to plague our members in various departments to no avail.
We have not scheduled the next bargaining date as yet however we will notify our members as it becomes available. If you have any questions related to negotiations, please feel free to contact your local union rep or www.hpae.org.
In Unity,
HPAE Local 5089 Negotiation Committee
Cynthia McDougall, Wendy Bobcombe, Cynthia Baez-Lugo, Banita Herndon, Wanda Caudle, Dorene Dougan