Local Presentation by Jackie Bess 7/30/04 - Minutes
Special Membership Meeting
CUE Union Local #2
July 30, 2004
The Barn, University Club Room
In attendance were:
Mary Juma, President and UCR Rep, Statewide Executive Board
Ginger Schilling, Secretary
Terri Romano, UCR Rep, Statewide Executive Board
Chris Benoit, Staff Person
and CUE members for a total of about 13 people.
Not present:
Connie McGrath, UCR Rep, Statewide Executive Board
Sandy Oberlies, Vice-President
The meeting started approximately 12:10pm.
Special presentation by Jackie Bess: How to recognize discrimination.
Jackie introduced herself and gave a little history about her own activism. She became a Steward because of the way that management treated her. As a steward, she noticed that most grievances seemed to come from minorities and that management also worked to keep employees from taking an active part in the union.
She discussed how a hostile work environment can be created. For example, a supervisor could be saying bad things about one person to another. She noted that often supervisors need more/better training.
She encouraged members to contact their local officers if they find some kind of loophole or flaw in the contract.
If a supervisor says something and no one hears it but you, write it down. Send your supervisor an email saying something like "I was offended by you saying XXX" and ask them not to say that again.
If your boss gives you a whole pile of work that conveniently enough always keeps you from participating in union meetings, that is discrimination.
FMLA leave
You have the right to take sick time to care for a family member. If you get a warning from your supervisor, ask the doctor to file FMLA papers. It protects your job for up to 12 weeks per year.
FMLA leave is retroactive. If have received previous warnings, you can have them removed.
It is also the employer's responsibility to tell you about FMLA (which UC seems to have trouble with).
FMLA leave starts when you tell your boss that you need sick time to care for a family member (as long as it is a FMLA approved situation). At that point the employer is supposed to let the employee know about FMLA.
2 members that work in the same dept. asked about a job opening that they wanted to apply for. It was basically clerical work, but one of the requirements is a Master's degree or equal experience. Several other people had already been in and out of the position (one of whom left because they felt the work was beneath them). The two members felt that management just wanted to keep them from being in that position. Jackie's suggestions included finding out about other equivalent positions and the requirements, etc.
A member asked about training. Supervisors do not have the right to not train you properly and then punish you for it. It is in the contract that they have the responsibility to get you the training you need.
Weingarten - If you believe a meeting with your supervisor might result in discipline, you have the right to have a union representative at the meeting.
A member asked about things in her personnel file that probably shouldn't be there. She will email Chris about it.
If a supervisor upsets you to the point of illness, go to your doctor and tell them it's stress from your job, bullying supervisor.
***Make sure you document everything!!!***
A member asked about seeing what's in your personnel file. You can see it anytime you ask. You can get a copy every 1 or 5 years (she was unsure how often).
They cannot do a background search on you for a job you already have.