As summer comes to a close and fall quickly approaches, many of us change gears. We prepare our children for school, we put away our summer toys and get ready for our hibernation period. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable summer. I thank everyone for their continued diligence, perseverance and patience during this very trying time.
Here are some of the issues I’ve been working on since my last article.
Comcast:
20COM-026 – The arbitration was held on July 15th. The parties are submitting briefs by the end of September and a decision should be received by the end of this year. 20COM-027 is currently being held in abeyance pending the decision of 20COM-026.
20COM-013 – work at the Fairview Hub being performed by non-bargaining unit members – this grievance is scheduled for arbitration on November 30th.
Settled:
20COM-014
20COM-018
20COM-019
20COM-020
20COM-022
20COM-023
The above settled grievances were all for payroll discrepancies that were in conflict with the current CBA. The grievants have had the discrepancies corrected and Comcast has instituted changes to the KRONOS payroll system to avoid future discrepancies.
Ephrata Borough:
Contract Negotiations – The parties are scheduled to begin contract negotiations, with the first meeting taking place on September 8th. The parties have agreed to the process of 5 proposals from each side and 5 days to negotiate. The parties have also agreed that the term of the agreement, wages and benefits will be joint proposals in addition to the 5 proposals from each party. Thank you to everyone that completed the survey.
PPL:
Grievance Resolution Meeting
20HBG-045 – Missed overtime – SETTLED ½ pay and ½ work all at OT rate.
21HBG-003 – Steno vacancy not filled – Union is currently reviewing information.
20LEH-015 – Supervisors doing BU work dispatching – parties working on a settlement
20LEH-016 – Supervisors doing BU work dispatching – parties working on a settlement
20LEH-018 – Shift not filled – Union reviewing information
20LEH-019 – Supervisors doing BU work dispatching – parties working on a settlement
20LEH-020 – Supervisors doing BU work dispatching – parties working on a settlement
20LEH-021 – Missed overtime – Union proposed OT pay for person missed – no agreement submitted for mediation.
21LEH-005 – Missed overtime – Union proposed to settle with 6 hours overtime pay – no agreement submitted for mediation
21LEH-008 – Missed overtime – SETTLED – employee paid 8 hours at time and a half
21NE-006 – Employee accepted job bid then Company rescinded offer due to minimum entry requirements – Union proposed place in position and adjust seniority back to initial acceptance date – Company declined – submitted for mediation.
CCC – The parties have reached a settlement with regards to the Arbitration Award for contractor use at the Customer Contact Centers. The settlement provides 35 jobs, 7 promotions and a contractor ratio (less contractors more BU). The settlement also states that the Company will provide a monthly headcount of FTE contractors and BU staffing, as well as quarterly meetings for the CCC. On another note, a meet & discuss was held with CCC management regarding the calabrio and twillio systems used for call monitoring. For those who know me, know that I’m a fan of monitoring. When done right it’s a beneficial tool for both the employee and the Company. However, that hasn’t been the case at the CCC. In the meet & discuss, the Company stated that the new monitoring systems have the ability to monitor an employee ‘live.’ Please be aware of all of your actions and communications when performing your daily tasks. In addition, there is a settlement that states the primary purpose of monitoring is for training and performance improvement and NOT RBP. However, if abusive conduct, theft, fraud or other gross misconduct is found in monitoring it could result in discipline.
Clerical – There continues to be concerns regarding clerical staffing throughout the PPL territory. As Steno/Clerks leave, the Company does not fill the vacancy. When questioned by the Union, the response is consistently that the work has been moved to a remaining steno/clerk with no impact on work volume, it’s been automated or has been eliminated. Stenos your help is needed. Please compile a list of any and all tasks you perform throughout the day/week/month/year and send it to me. This will make our inquiries much more thorough.
We have been in discussions with the Company regarding the reduced clerical staffing PPL EU Services and the reduced staffing of the Senior Clerk position. Clarifications have been provided regarding what is Steno work and what is Senior Clerk work. There will be an additional discussion that should result in a clear understanding of the tasks for both positions.
Dispatch – I’ve been hearing about the current work environment in dispatch. To say the least, it’s tense. A meet and discuss will be held on September 1st to discuss this situation and hopefully provide some resolution.
System Shops – The Company has given the Union a proposal to revise the current System Shops progression line. The Union is currently reviewing the proposal and will submit a counter to the Company. Please now that and agreed upon revision will require a vote of all impacted employees.
