News
TA Perspective
By Darryl Tseu
Getting to our recent TA was a difficult process and stressful process for our entire bargaining unit. Dealing with the unknown future is something that IBU members working for AMHS are used to but this negotiation process has been even more stressful. As it is in life, nothing is quite the way we would like. John Lancaster-SW, Glen Budge-Engine, Tony Tengs-Steward, Karl Ashenbrenner-Deck, Michael Queen-Pursers and I submitted our package proposal to the state on July 15, 2008 with no takeaways with 5%, 5%, 5%. We were not in the mood for games and we all agreed that this was the showdown we were expecting from the Palin Administration. After the unsurprising, 92% denial of the last TA by the membership, our position was solidified by member comments:
· No to the state’s Personal Leave proposal
· No to the state’s removal of Pass privileges
· No to the state’s removal of language protecting IBU jurisdiction in Lay Up and Yard
· No to reducing healthcare contributions to 2004 levels
· No to the removal of Split Wages
· No to the reduction of Unearned Wage benefits
AMHS BU
Open Letter to the AMHS Bargaining Unit
By Diane Charrier and Joanne Smitchko
To All IBU Members: August 21, 2008
The “signing bonus” of $2,137.00 roughly approximates a year’s cost of money out of our pockets for the Standard Health Plan. 90% of our membership opts for the Standard health package. But now the STATE wants us to settle for whatever the economy plan goes up to each year. This means if you opt for the Standard Plan, every year approx. $2,137.00 will be paid by you! Can you afford that? During the past contract we had to sue the State to receive the Standard health care we had bargained in good faith for! Remember our past union members have fought hard to get these benefits for us. PLEASE don’t give them up over a meager check that they are dangling in front of us.
This is a Bonus Check, it is not a Raise as it does not compound into future earnings.
Open Letter to the AMHS Bargaining Unit
Written by Karl Ashenbrenner, Deck Department Negotiating Committee Representative
AMHS BU
Preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best...
Your IBU Negotiating Committee is committed to crafting a tentative agreement that will be acceptable to our members. The act of preparing for the worst and working toward the best is simply being responsible and proactive. In order to legally go on strike, there are several steps we must take. Both parties must declare "impasse". Impasse means, regardless of the efforts from both sides, the parties are not able to come to an agreement. The final step is mediation. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is an independent agency of the Federal Department of Labor that offers mediation and arbitration services. Once the parties reach impasse a mediator will work toward moving the parties to an agreement. If the mediator is not successful, the employer can implement their last offer and the IBU membership can request a strike sanction from the IBU National President, Alan Cote.
A successful strike can not be organized in a couple of days, therefore the Union is preparing in advance in the event that negotiations completely fail. One of the steps is to determine who will volunteer as picket captains and a request for volunteers is simply considering all options before us. By preparing for a possible strike does not necessarily mean we will end up on strike. We want it known to all that the IBU is using the tools that we have available to arrive at a tentative agreement that is acceptable to our brothers and sisters in the AMHS Bargaining Unit of the IBU.
Volunteers Needed for Strike Lines