Council approved a three-year contract covering two employees at the North Carolina AFL-CIO. The federation workers will receive cumulative raises of nearly 20 percent over the life of the agreement.
Council approved one-year contract extensions at Agence France-Presse and at Catholic News Service.
Executive Director Cet Parks reported on the status of bargaining at UFCW headquarters, where a contract covering 64 employees expired in early October. Parks said management has been generally slow to respond to WBNG proposals.
Local Representative Rick Ehrmann reported on progress in efforts towards a first contract at the Center for Popular Democracy, with both sides agreeing to interest-based bargaining. Organized during the summer, the unit has three dozen employees; talks began in September.
Council approved a Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions bargaining committee: unit Chair John Kolodny, unit Vice Chair Jessica Butz, Chris Parker, Dan Ryan, Simone Zimmer and Cet Parks. A contract covering 25 workers at CKPU expires March 31, 2017.
Council discussed and approved a revised local election timeline. Three of the board’s top four officer positions are being contested.
Council members discussed post-election layoffs at the AFL-CIO headquarters and at the federation’s community affiliate, Working America. Council member Jazmin Gargoum was one of the employees let go by Working America. She said that the layoffs followed past management patterns at the “toxic” workplace, with little notice, bonuses being denied, and managers being spared. In one case, a problematic manager was demoted into a position in the Guild bargaining unit. Parks noted that the AFL-CIO let people know in advance that layoffs were coming, and that federation managers were among those laid off.
Parks reported on an arbitration loss in a grievance at Working America where the unit’s sole Muslim worker was denied a request to secure a shift in schedule to honor Ramadan.
Local 32035 Vice President Tim Fitzgerald, chair of the WBNG Bylaws Committee, distributed copies of proposed revisions. These will be considered at the next meeting.
The next Executive Council meeting was set for Jan. 10, in Washington.
