Our union negotiating committee met with ESS management on December 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 10th. The company was represented by two corporate human resources representatives.
We came to tentative agreements on many non-economic proposals, including Hours of Work (we will now get 2 additional 10 minute paid breaks, and a 15 minute paid break if we work more than 8 hours), Fair Discipline, Union Administration, Seniority and Layoffs, Job Openings, Grievance Procedure, Temporary Assignments/Transfers (if union members work in a higher paid job, they will receive higher pay), Safety and Health (including reimbursement up to $20 for TB tests), Leaves of Absence, Badges, Successor Employers, No Discrimination, and Paychecks. Tentative agreements become final when we vote on our full contract.
The union presented our economic proposals on December 10th. The management representatives said that our proposal was too expensive, and then they said that they were too angry to continue to negotiate because our proposal for wage increases, paid time off, and benefits was ridiculous. They said that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to the Winslow Teachers’ contract. Then management left in the middle of the day and said that they would be in touch.
It is not ridiculous to expect decent wages and benefits for the work that we do! ESS should come back to the negotiating table and treat us with the respect that we deserve.
We also discussed the recent emails from Kersteen regarding attendance discipline, etc. The company agreed that no more such emails will be sent during bargaining, because we are negotiating over these issues.
If your school hasn’t chosen stewards yet, we encourage you to select them. In the meantime, you can contact stewards from the other schools.