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Chapter 4 NHS Newsletter

January Issue

 

SEIU 668/PSSU Allegheny/Westmoreland

Member information


January 2009; Issue 7

                               Acknowledgements

We’re looking to acknowledge union members’ birthdates, anniversaries, etc. on a monthly basis through the NHS Allegheny/Westmoreland Newsletter. Please email your information to Janet Kovacs at JanetX2@comcast.net or call 412-466-7092(h) or 412-298-9852 (c) and Sonya Rutherford at str668@hotmail.com.

                                Labor Union Trivia

1. Name the movie in which actress Holly Hunter portrays the wife of a Kentucky coal miner and subsequently becomes involved in a bitter labor dispute.
2. What is the basis of the classic film, Salt of the Earth?
3. This movie was about the organizing of the Pullman Rail Company porters and starred Andre Braugher as the legendary labor leader A. Phillip Randolph.

Answers to January’s trivia will be published in February’s newsletter.

                                 Know Your Rights

If called to a meeting with Management, state this information before the meeting begins. It is not Management’s job to tell you that you need a Union steward, it is your right to have one and it is your job to ask for a steward.

“If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative, officer, or steward be present at this meeting. Until my representation arrives, I choose not to participate in this discussion.” US Supreme Court - 1975

                          Article 2 - Recognition
                                                                         
Section 2.3 - Excluded from coverage under this Agreement are Clerical Employees, Temporary Employees, Guards, Supervisors, Nurses, Confidential and Management Employees, and Maintenance Coordinator position, as defined in the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended. If in the future Maintenance Technicians are hired, these positions will become part of the bargaining unit.

Section 2.4- The Employer will furnish to the Union a list of all Employees covered by this Agreement, including each Employee’s job title, home address, home and work telephone numbers, social security number (when authorized by the Employee), and assigned work site within fifteen (15) working days of the signing of this Agreement and will provide the Union with a list of all additions and deletions on a monthly basis.

Section 2.5: No Oral Modification - This Contract expresses the understanding of the parties in respect to all matters deemed by them to be generally applicable to the bargaining unit and will not be changed, modified, or varied except by a written instrument signed by duly authorized agents of both parties hereto and dated on or subsequent to the date on which this Agreement is made effective by the parties.

                             Stay Informed

Visit the Union’s website at www.seiu668.org or your chapter’s website at www.seiu668ch4.org.

Steward training for all newly elected stewards in Chapter 3 will be held in March. Information on the date and time will be mailed in the next few weeks.


                                Important Dates

· Stewards’ Meetings – 1st Fri. of every month at 4pm at NHS/ATF

Jan 2nd July 3rd

Feb TBA Aug 7th

Mar 6th Sep 4th

Apr 3rd Oct 2nd

May 1st Nov 6th

Jun 5th Dec 4th

· Labor/Management Meetings – 2nd Fri. of every month at 10:00. Agendas are due to NHS after the Stewards’ Meetings

Jan 9th Jul 10th

Feb 13th Aug 14th

Mar 13th Sep 11th

Apr 10th Oct 9th

May 8th Nov 13th

Jun 12th Dec 11th

· Chapter 3 Board Meetings – 4th Thurs. of every month (except for Nov. & Dec.)

· Chapter 4 Board Meetings – Generally held within 30 days of SWEB



            Shop Stewards

CLUSTER

LOCATION

STEWARD

Myrtle Walker, Chief Shop Steward

Westmoreland 1

Mohawk, Bruno &

Bella

Beth Knopp

Allegheny 1

MacBeth &

Canaveral

Gena Cottrell

Sonya Rutherford

Allegheny 2

ATF & Sangree

Saxonburg

4 & 6

Magalene McCoy

Janet Kovacs

Troy Brown

Lynelle Tunstall

Allegheny 3

Rodi & Cyra

Garden City & Saltsburg

Duane Bowman

Charles Turner

Westmoreland 2

Harvey & Lantz

Tom Bailey


                 A Message from Your Stewards

When you need a union steward, please go through your cluster Steward, rather than using the Chief Steward, Myrtle Walker.

If you have an issue that you would like a steward to discuss at a Labor/Management meeting, please have the information to your Cluster Union Steward before the 1st Friday of each month or it will have to wait until the next month!

Important Phone Numbers:

Janet Kovacs Cell: 412-298-9852

Sonya Rutherford Cell: 412-728-8974

Myrtle Walker Cell: 412-519-8241

             An Important Note for Residential Staff

Each house should have the schedule posted every month so that all in-house staff can pick up overtime if there isn’t PRN availability. If this is not being done, let your assigned steward know and this will be addressed. This is part of the collective bargaining agreement, Article 7-Hours of Work, Section 7.1. This is to be followed in good faith. NO EXCEPTIONS. If this is not being done, a grievance can be filed.

**********

PLEASE CALL THE UNION OFFICE IN PITTSBURGH AND SPEAK TO MICHELLE IF YOU HAVE A NAME OR ADDRESS CHANGE.


A Note from the Business Agent

New NLRB Chairwoman

Liebman a Welcome Change

by James Parks, Jan 26, 2009

The union movement is praising President Obama’s nomination of Wilma Liebman as the next chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

As an NLRB member over the past eight years, Liebman has challenged the Bush administration’s war on workers. The board’s Republican majority made it harder to form unions through majority sign-up, limited the ability of illegally fired workers to recover back pay and allowed employers to discriminate against union supporters in the hiring process.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says Obama made the right choice.

America’s working men and women will finally have the fair and committed leader they deserve with Wilma Liebman as chair of the National Labor Relations Board. What a refreshing change it will be to have a labor board that aims to safeguard rather than blockade workers’ rights. Liebman will work to help the NLRB serve one of its key missions–to undergird all workers’ right to collective bargaining as a cornerstone of our economy and democracy.

In a statement, Liebman says: The Board’s work matters, just as it did when the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935. Democracy in the workplace is still basic to a democratic society, and collective bargaining is still basic to a fair economy. The statute we administer is the foundation of America’s commitment to human rights recognized around the world.

Liebman was first appointed to the NLRB by President Clinton in 1997. Her current term expires in 2011. Before joining the NLRB, Liebman served from 1994 to 1997 at the FMCS (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service), first as special assistant to the director and then as deputy director. She began her legal career as an NLRB staff attorney in 1974, then served on the legal staff of two unions: the Bricklayers and the Teamsters.

Karen Klimaszewski, Business Agent

800-272-0474 Ext. 18

Fax: 814-266-8388

SEIU 668 * 731 Scalp Ave. * Johnstown 15904

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

US Dept. of Labor, ESA Wage & Hour Division
Federal Building
1000 Liberty Ave.
Room 313
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone: (412) 395-4996
Website: www.dol.gov/esa/whd/