YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE TO BE ABLE TO ATTEND AND VOTE!!!

RATIFICATION MEETING REGISTRATION

• You must attend meetings outside of working hours
• Only UE 228 Members may attend (employees in probation can attend but cannot speak or vote)
• Register for one meeting only
• For security, you must use the Zoom app to join (no phone calls)
• Registration for each meeting will close one hour before the meeting starts
• The email address you provide will be used for secure, anonymous voting during the meeting

MEETING #1: December 1st, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C6w4t38_TqG1zzYcu7Bkyg 

MEETING #2: December 1st, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vXXCFaC8Qv-gdj3jbZn8KA

MEETING #3: December 1st, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WMqiFJBnTnKTLxW3Cv7DOw

MEETING #4: December 1st, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NUXoZuEdT4-Wm9VC82DO9Q

LDRM presented its “Last, Best, & Final Offer” at the end of the day yesterday and stated that they had no room to negotiate any further. Because of this, we did not reach final agreement on all open contract items. This means it’s now up to the members to vote and decide whether to accept or reject the deal.

Prior to their final offer, we came to agreement on a number of significant improvements that are part of the package deal. Here are some of the biggest changes:

• Ability to waive medical coverage without proof of coverage (unless receiving Medicare/Medicaid due to CMS requirements)
• No changes to medical without mutual agreement of the Union
• Prior to changing any other benefits, LDRM must give at least 60 days’ notice and negotiate with the Union
• Discipline is removed from your record after 1 year
• New hires receive one week of vacation after six months (and another week after one year)
• Performance “standards” may not be enforced with disciplinary action (severely poor performance may still be subject to discipline)
• Two extra days of bereavement for UE members who have to travel overseas to attend a funeral (5 days total)
• LDRM must now negotiate with the union any time they want to make or change any rules or policies, or any time DOS requires any changes on the contract
• Paid time to complete eQIP/maintenance of security clearance
• Overtime pay after 32 hours in a holiday week now permanent for all holidays
• Teleworking employees can choose vacation, make-up time, or LWOP for system downtime over two hours (need to coordinate with supervisor)
• LDRM Handbook Attendance Policy eliminated (no “occurrences” and “no fault” discipline). Instead, they have to follow just cause and take into account the circumstances of any absence before deciding if discipline is appropriate

The other parts of LDRM’s package deal we did not reach agreement on. In addition to the above items, here’s what they presented as their best offer:

• Inclement weather closures
  • Paid for employees who aren’t eligible to telework
  • Choice to use vacation, make-up, leave without pay if eligible but unable to telework
  • Teleworking employees are expected to work (but may be excused if weather interferes with the ability to work from home)
• Telework
  • No agreement on permanent telework. Maintain current practices (which are subject to the grievance procedure)
• Wages (effective April 1st each year)
  • 5%, 4%, 3%
  • H&W (current $5.92): $6.07, $6.27, $6.47
  • $1 differential for CSRI employees (TI & CI) while working on the phone
• The new UE 228 contract would take effect March 1, 2023 and run through October 31, 2025

The Bargaining Committee is giving a neutral recommendation on the contract. No one will be telling you that you should vote one way or the other. The decision will be 100% up to UE 228 members. To hear all of the details and to cast your vote, you MUST register for one of the Zoom meetings by clicking on one of the links below!

RATIFICATION MEETING REGISTRATION

• You must attend meetings outside of your scheduled shift
• Only UE 228 Members may attend (employees in probation can attend but cannot speak or vote)
• Register for one meeting only
• For security, you must use the Zoom app to join (no phone calls)
• Registration for each meeting will close one hour before the meeting starts
• The email address you provide will be used for secure, anonymous voting during the meeting

MEETING #1: December 1st, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C6w4t38_TqG1zzYcu7Bkyg 

MEETING #2: December 1st, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vXXCFaC8Qv-gdj3jbZn8KA

MEETING #3: December 1st, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WMqiFJBnTnKTLxW3Cv7DOw

MEETING #4: December 1st, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NUXoZuEdT4-Wm9VC82DO9Q

On November 26th, UE 228 members held an emergency meeting to discuss the slow progress in contract negotiations with LDRM. The company has continued to maintain that a new union contract must be finalized by November 30th. If not, LDRM states that it will not negotiate wage increases to take effect until after 2023.

In response to this unreasonable demand, UE 228 members voted almost unanimously (99% YES) to authorize the 228 Bargaining Committee to declare a strike. What does this mean?

• You have a legally-protected right to withhold your labor
• No work stoppage would occur any sooner than March 1, 2023 following expiration of our union contract on February 28th
• The Bargaining Committee would call for a strike only if necessary due to failure of LDRM to bargain in good faith over all mandatory subjects. If LDRM refuses to negotiate over wages after November 30th, that would be a condition where a work stoppage might be declared.
• There would be several meetings and additional planning prior to the commencement of any work stoppage
• We know there is still a path to a fair contract but LDRM must know that all options are very much on the table!

LDRM claims that we must have a new contract fully negotiated and ratified (by a vote of UE 228 members) no later than November 30th. They claim that failure to reach this deadline will mean no wage increases until 2024. They further claim this is because DOS will not reimburse them for our raises if we don’t get things done by the 30th.

We know better. We know this deadline isn’t real. But LDRM continues to stall and try to run down the clock in an effort to pressure us into settling for an unfair deal.

So far, they’ve refused to bargain over telework, refused to allow us to waive insurance coverage, and refused to pay for inclement weather closures for all affected employees. Their best wage proposal has been 4.5% with an extra $0.10 in H&W and $0.05 in shift differential. At this late stage, these numbers are unacceptable.

All meeting participants will be required to verify identity. Only UE 228 members may attend!

UE 228 Emergency Member Meeting
Nov 26, 2022 01:00 PM Eastern Time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87588443293

Meeting ID: 875 8844 3293
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LDRM claims that we MUST have a new contract in place by the end of the month, or there won’t be any raises until 4/1/24. They claim that DOS won’t reimburse them for our raises if we miss the deadline (and they don’t believe they should ever have to pay a cent of our wages themselves). LDRM knows what a complete disaster it would be if NVC workers didn’t get a raise: workers would continue to leave, applicants would dry up, and UE 228 members WOULD NOT lay down and accept nothing! But for people with a deadline, they showed little willingness to make progress by putting real proposals on the table last week.

We need to send a strong message to LDRM as we resume bargaining tomorrow, November 22nd. CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION RIGHT NOW!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION RIGHT NOW!

The membership has spoken, we have a new insurance provider! Here are the finalized plans, please note that the Basic Plan will have prescription plan F by default, the Enhanced and Premium plans will have prescription plan A by default.

Basic Plan (Lowest Level Coverage)

Enhanced Plan (Mid Level Coverage)

Premium Plan (High Level Coverage)

UE VSS email discussing the plans

We sent our proposal for the USW plans on Thursday, LDRM had stated on Friday that it is not possible to adopt the USW plans (this year). Saturday they sent us a counterproposal, in it we get the same coverage and prices as the USW plans we designed but we have to stay with FCE.

We will be including assurances in the Memorandum of Agreement to make FCE step up it’s game (one such proposal is to have a designated LDRM contact to report FCE related issues to; ex.-unable to get questions answered/ get a rude customer service rep/ etc).

Please recognize that we moved them from 5-6% rate increases to keep the coverage the same, to drastically improved coverage for that same amount (employee only). The lower tier plans will cover more at a reduced cost (most coverage levels). They came this far because of your actions, they rearranged their coverage with their vendor because of your actions.

This is a win, it might not be the exact win we want, but the alternative at this point could be LDRM’s initial offering of our coverage getting worse for 5-6% more in premiums. * While this is not the outcome we all want, it is likely the best offer that LDRM is going to give us this late in the game.

Next year LDRM will not have the excuse of their contract with FCE, we will be able to shop for all of the benefits (and add some if we want), and we can take 100% of our business away from FCE.

We will have details for ratification meetings (at least one for each shift) within a day or two.

*LDRM has the right to push forward with whatever coverage they see fit if we vote this down as they must make sure we have benefit coverage on March 1.