contract changes

[wayne-o]

What is the name of your state? TN I work for a large national retail chain. I have been a union member for my entire time with the company 26 yrs. We have a contract with several tiers and some small differences in pay based on geographics, economy in certain areas etc. etc., however no huge discrepancies. We were informed this week about contract improvements that our union had agreed to. These were indeed improvements as no one lost anything and every one got something the top tier people got their next contract raise a couple of months early and they raised starting pay any where from $1 to $3 dollars an hours based on the difficulties stores had finding qualified help.

Our union leadership did not open the contract up, they just accepted the proposal, they are "shocked" that members are upset because no vote was taken and members are upset about the huge differences in pay rates between stores as close a 2 miles apart.

The union said the company could do this since they were not taking anything away, and everyone was receiving something and they accepted on our behalf. They said the company could've done it anyway and all the union could do was file a grievance.

Does this sound fishy to any of the experienced board members?

 

[justalayman]

What is the name of your state? TN I work for a large national retail chain. I have been a union member for my entire time with the company 26 yrs. We have a contract with several tiers and some small differences in pay based on geographics, economy in certain areas etc. etc., however no huge discrepancies. We were informed this week about contract improvements that our union had agreed to. These were indeed improvements as no one lost anything and every one got something the top tier people got their next contract raise a couple of months early and they raised starting pay any where from $1 to $3 dollars an hours based on the difficulties stores had finding qualified help.

Our union leadership did not open the contract up, they just accepted the proposal, they are "shocked" that members are upset because no vote was taken and members are upset about the huge differences in pay rates between stores as close a 2 miles apart.

The union said the company could do this since they were not taking anything away, and everyone was receiving something and they accepted on our behalf. They said the company could've done it anyway and all the union could do was file a grievance.

Does this sound fishy to any of the experienced board members?

Actually I have been in unions where the officers have the ability to open the contract without a member vote. Actually there were very few items that did need a membership vote including acceptance of the CBA itself. I have also been a member of a union where almost nothing could be changed without a vote by the members. I cannot tell you whether either/both were legal although I assume that both are.. There are some folks here that do and hopefully they will hop on in and render aid.

I do believe these situations are governed by the bylaws of the union and obviously vary from union to union.

 

[wayne-o]

thanks for your reply. Our union representative was clear that the contract was not "re-opened" because when you reopen everything is fair game. "you might get more money, but you might lose insurance or vacations in the process. They did re-open on a previous occasion without voting, however we did vote on the finished product. In this case the company simply threw more money at the union for specific stores/areas and job classes and the union accepted it.