Click here to download this update as a PDF.
Your Bargaining Committee and Employee Reps have been working hard to bring fairness to Blue Bird. We have been making appeals on terminations and final warnings, and we’ve won some cases (One member is being brought back to work and another member will have their final warning removed). Before we had a union, this would not have been possible.
In Bargaining, we are pushing for Grievance and Arbitration, to expand what we can file an appeal over. This is important because it means we can hold management accountable for what they do and how they treat us.
A contract lays out the rules at Blue Bird, so the company can’t just change the rules whenever they feel like it. A contract will bring Fairness to Blue Bird instead of favoritism. This is why the non-economic issues we are currently discussing are so important.
Right now, we are in the non-economic phase of bargaining. So far, our proposals to Blue Bird include:
- Seniority
- Job Bidding and Opportunities for advancement
- Grievance Procedure
- Health and Safety
- Civil Rights
- Job Security
The economic phase of bargaining where we discuss pay and benefits will start after we complete the non-economic contract language.
We are pleased to report that we are making progress including our new bulletin boards where we can share info. We meet again with the company on 9/26 and 9/28.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the union meetings. We were glad to give you a detailed update and answer your questions.