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| BARGAINING CONTINUES FOR UFCW MEMBERS AT PTI LODGES |
| BARGAINING CONTINUES FOR UFCW MEMBERS AT PTI LODGES |
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BARGAINING CONTINUES FOR UFCW MEMBERS AT PTI LODGES Negotiations for a new Union contract continued on February 1 – 5, 2010, in One of the main initial topics of discussion was the issue of room cleaning quotas for housekeepers. There is some evidence that over zealous bosses are instructing housekeepers to meet certain cleaning quotas. At Wapasu the rumor is that housekeepers have been told to clean 38 so called “Jack and Jill” rooms per 10 hour shift. These are also known as “112’s”. At All of these quotas, whether you have heard of them or not, may make for interesting chatter for your boss or may be utilized by them to make them feel like they are bosses. TO BE CLEAR, SENIOR PTI OFFICIALS HAVE ADVISED THAT NONE OF THESE QUOTAS ARE MANDATORY! YOU WILL NOT BE REQUIRED OR FORCED TO MEET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Employee workloads and work assignments shall be fair and reasonable. For employees who are not at the top wage rates, the workload and assignment expectations shall be commensurate with hours of experience. The words mean what they say. The second sentence makes it clear that if you are not yet making the big bucks and not yet fully experienced and trained the standard for you must be lower. Lower level management may say that you do not have a choice but to meet their requirements or they may say that you signed a paper which forces you to meet their requirements. They are wrong. Their bosses have told your Do not be pushed into doing more than what is reasonable and putting your health at risk. Also, if you try to meet an unreasonable quota you will do a poor job by rushing then you will be in trouble for doing a poor job! This doesn’t make any sense and intelligent management knows this. Thank heavens that the company has sent senior people to the bargaining table that have common sense in this area. Indeed, company representatives are strongly arguing at the bargaining table that employee health and safety must come first! If you have any concerns about your work load please contact your Union Representative Lorraine Pilotte at 1-800-252-7975 or 780-452-0362. Workloads were not the only topic of discussion at the bargaining table. Other areas of debate included the right to have reasonable transportation in and out of the lodges; transportation allowances and the need to improve them including eliminating discrimination against Conklin employees in this area; bereavement leave; hiring practices at the lodges; translation issues for individuals for whom English is not their first language; vacation and “time out” rights for couples; job descriptions; matters and problems that relate to the new laundry system; health and safety issues; housing concerns; security issues; food safety and allergy problems; vacation scheduling issues for all employees, etc, etc, etc. It is important to note that your Union bargaining committee has made it clear to the company that there can be no justification for any take-aways, roll backs, or concessions. Disturbingly, some workers are currently buying into the notion that there is a recession and that they should be willing to work for lower wages, fewer benefits and diminished rights. We have told PTI that workers in their lodges are entitled to improvements only and that we will fight to ensure that those improvements are made. Fred Bannon, Vice President of Operations was generous enough to remind the committee at the bargaining table of the many recent compliments that he has heard from clients regarding your hard work and sensitivity to customer needs. We are happy to pass those compliments on to you. However, we are also happy to say to the company that this is more evidence of the hard work that you do and superior performance that you provide. In our view, PTI employees are indeed the best and should receive the best compensation and collective agreement in these negotiations. If you have any further questions about collective bargaining, please talk to one of the bargaining committee members or Lorraine Pilotte who can be reached at: 1-800-252-7975 or 780-452-0362.
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