of no information disseminated to members
hence a reason to VOTE NO to Hoffa, Hall etc.
Barry Yomtov, the last NYC OTB Manager, with a Teamsters Local 858 Salary
Labor Talks in Detroit Go Social
By NICK BUNKLEY
DETROIT — For generations, labor negotiations here have been the stuff of closed doors and tight lips. Just four years ago, when the United Auto Workers settled on contracts with the Big Three, the rank-and-file learned the details by crowding into union halls for meetings that were often chaotic and confusing. Many workers complained that they had not seen the fine print until the deals had been ratified.
But like so much in the American auto industry, the old rules of bargaining no longer apply. In recent weeks, the U.A.W.’s Web site crashed in the hours after new contracts were unveiled with General Motors and the Ford Motor Company because so many workers were downloading them.
And how did many workers learn about the deals? Through Facebook pages and Twitter feeds kept up to date, often late into the night, by union staff members stationed in the halls outside the bargaining rooms. For the first time, the union also worked with each company to set up secure Web sites that allowed workers to receive e-mail updates.
“We may have gotten a lot more done in the past, and things would have gone smoother provided we had tools like this,” said General Holiefield, the U.A.W. vice president in charge of negotiations with Chrysler, who explained his approach to the talks in a four-minute video posted on YouTube and Facebook last week. “I couldn’t see going forward without using these.”
Talks with Chrysler have not concluded, though plant leaders from across the country have been summoned to Detroit for a meeting on Monday, signaling that discussions are in the final stages.
Some labor specialists say the wave of social networking this year has provided a bigger window than before into the negotiating process in Detroit, even though the talks still occur in private. Not only is communication more instant and accurate, but it has been extended to people previously left on the sidelines, including retirees.
“There is unprecedented openness about this process,” said Kristin Dziczek, labor analyst for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “You’re not getting the blow-by-blow, but they’re being much more open and transparent in communicating with their members and with the public, who, quite frankly, made a major investment in saving these companies.”
Through Facebook, autoworkers at plants in Kansas City, Mo., or Kokomo, Ind., have been able to voice concerns and ask questions directly to the bargaining teams, something they could not do in past years. Facebook helped workers at a Chrysler factory in Dundee, Mich., gather support before voting last month to join the national contract; they had previously been covered by a separate agreement that provided less job security.
While the U.A.W. worked to repair its Web site last week, it posted a summary of the Ford contract on Facebook, and received more than 500 comments in response. Since ratification meetings started, the moderators of the U.A.W.’s page for Ford workers have been busy answering requests to clarify sections of the contract language, sometimes responding within minutes.
In several instances, the union used Facebook to rebut rumors being disseminated on plant floors or in the news media, rather than allowing them to spread unchallenged. Shortly after a Detroit television station reported that workers would get a signing bonus of $7,500, a message posted on Facebook from Jimmy Settles, the union’s vice president in charge of Ford negotiations, described the report as inaccurate and “designed to intentionally create false expectations.” The finished deal included a bonus of $6,000 for most workers, some of whom had begun posting on Facebook that they would vote against any contract with a bonus of less than $15,000.
“It allowed us to get to the membership quickly,” Mr. Settles said in an interview. “The one thing we always had to combat was the expectations of our members. Historically, we didn’t have the apparatus to get that information out.”
The Chrysler team reacted similarly last week to quell speculation that the talks were headed to arbitration. Chrysler workers agreed in 2009, as part of the company’s government-aided bankruptcy, to give up their right to strike and that any impasse would be sent to binding arbitration, a result that both parties have said they want to avoid.
Art Reyes, the president of U.A.W. Local 651 in Flint, Mich., said Facebook had gone a long way toward “demystifying” the complex negotiations.
He has been active on Facebook himself, posting frequently on a page he created for his local and participating in many conversations on the U.A.W.’s G.M. page during the talks. Mr. Reyes represents a G.M. parts processing plant staffed entirely by entry-level workers, many of whom are in their 20s, new to the bargaining process and more likely to engage one another online than at the union hall.
“They’re used to expressing themselves on Facebook or on Twitter. Getting real-time answers is something they have an expectation of,” he said. “Nothing feeds the rumor mill like a lack of information.”
To be sure, the union still has kept most details of negotiations closely guarded, leading some members to grumble on Facebook that they are still in the dark. In fact, complaints — about the secretive process, the union’s leadership and the finished contracts — have become common, as they are on many Internet forums. But the page administrators say they have let most critical comments stand uncensored, stepping in only when they spot inaccurate information and to delete posts with foul language. After the G.M. contract was settled, however, the union noticed many comments from retirees who were angry that they would not receive their traditional pension increases or Christmas bonuses, and responded with a long statement.
The message said the cuts were caused by G.M.’s significantly underfunded pensions and the large number of retirees. It said the union had considered having active workers pay into a Christmas bonus fund for retirees but that would cost each worker $6,000. “Obviously, this is not possible in these economic times,” the post said.
The U.A.W.’s Facebook page for G.M. differs from those for Chrysler and Ford in that it is run with the company. G.M. saw the site as an important way to ensure members could quickly receive information from the company as well as from union leaders, Kim Carpenter, a G.M. spokeswoman, said. More than 11,000 people have subscribed to the page.
“There’s a lot of different filters out there, and this enables us to communicate directly with the membership, and we think that’s a good thing,” Ms. Carpenter said.
But like so much in the American auto industry, the old rules of bargaining no longer apply. In recent weeks, the U.A.W.’s Web site crashed in the hours after new contracts were unveiled with General Motors and the Ford Motor Company because so many workers were downloading them.
And how did many workers learn about the deals? Through Facebook pages and Twitter feeds kept up to date, often late into the night, by union staff members stationed in the halls outside the bargaining rooms. For the first time, the union also worked with each company to set up secure Web sites that allowed workers to receive e-mail updates.
“We may have gotten a lot more done in the past, and things would have gone smoother provided we had tools like this,” said General Holiefield, the U.A.W. vice president in charge of negotiations with Chrysler, who explained his approach to the talks in a four-minute video posted on YouTube and Facebook last week. “I couldn’t see going forward without using these.”
Talks with Chrysler have not concluded, though plant leaders from across the country have been summoned to Detroit for a meeting on Monday, signaling that discussions are in the final stages.
Some labor specialists say the wave of social networking this year has provided a bigger window than before into the negotiating process in Detroit, even though the talks still occur in private. Not only is communication more instant and accurate, but it has been extended to people previously left on the sidelines, including retirees.
“There is unprecedented openness about this process,” said Kristin Dziczek, labor analyst for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “You’re not getting the blow-by-blow, but they’re being much more open and transparent in communicating with their members and with the public, who, quite frankly, made a major investment in saving these companies.”
Through Facebook, autoworkers at plants in Kansas City, Mo., or Kokomo, Ind., have been able to voice concerns and ask questions directly to the bargaining teams, something they could not do in past years. Facebook helped workers at a Chrysler factory in Dundee, Mich., gather support before voting last month to join the national contract; they had previously been covered by a separate agreement that provided less job security.
While the U.A.W. worked to repair its Web site last week, it posted a summary of the Ford contract on Facebook, and received more than 500 comments in response. Since ratification meetings started, the moderators of the U.A.W.’s page for Ford workers have been busy answering requests to clarify sections of the contract language, sometimes responding within minutes.
In several instances, the union used Facebook to rebut rumors being disseminated on plant floors or in the news media, rather than allowing them to spread unchallenged. Shortly after a Detroit television station reported that workers would get a signing bonus of $7,500, a message posted on Facebook from Jimmy Settles, the union’s vice president in charge of Ford negotiations, described the report as inaccurate and “designed to intentionally create false expectations.” The finished deal included a bonus of $6,000 for most workers, some of whom had begun posting on Facebook that they would vote against any contract with a bonus of less than $15,000.
“It allowed us to get to the membership quickly,” Mr. Settles said in an interview. “The one thing we always had to combat was the expectations of our members. Historically, we didn’t have the apparatus to get that information out.”
The Chrysler team reacted similarly last week to quell speculation that the talks were headed to arbitration. Chrysler workers agreed in 2009, as part of the company’s government-aided bankruptcy, to give up their right to strike and that any impasse would be sent to binding arbitration, a result that both parties have said they want to avoid.
Art Reyes, the president of U.A.W. Local 651 in Flint, Mich., said Facebook had gone a long way toward “demystifying” the complex negotiations.
He has been active on Facebook himself, posting frequently on a page he created for his local and participating in many conversations on the U.A.W.’s G.M. page during the talks. Mr. Reyes represents a G.M. parts processing plant staffed entirely by entry-level workers, many of whom are in their 20s, new to the bargaining process and more likely to engage one another online than at the union hall.
“They’re used to expressing themselves on Facebook or on Twitter. Getting real-time answers is something they have an expectation of,” he said. “Nothing feeds the rumor mill like a lack of information.”
To be sure, the union still has kept most details of negotiations closely guarded, leading some members to grumble on Facebook that they are still in the dark. In fact, complaints — about the secretive process, the union’s leadership and the finished contracts — have become common, as they are on many Internet forums. But the page administrators say they have let most critical comments stand uncensored, stepping in only when they spot inaccurate information and to delete posts with foul language. After the G.M. contract was settled, however, the union noticed many comments from retirees who were angry that they would not receive their traditional pension increases or Christmas bonuses, and responded with a long statement.
The message said the cuts were caused by G.M.’s significantly underfunded pensions and the large number of retirees. It said the union had considered having active workers pay into a Christmas bonus fund for retirees but that would cost each worker $6,000. “Obviously, this is not possible in these economic times,” the post said.
The U.A.W.’s Facebook page for G.M. differs from those for Chrysler and Ford in that it is run with the company. G.M. saw the site as an important way to ensure members could quickly receive information from the company as well as from union leaders, Kim Carpenter, a G.M. spokeswoman, said. More than 11,000 people have subscribed to the page.
“There’s a lot of different filters out there, and this enables us to communicate directly with the membership, and we think that’s a good thing,” Ms. Carpenter said.
Social Media Offer View Into U.A.W.'s Contract Talks - NYTimes.com
www.nytimes.com/.../social-media-offer-view-into-uaws-contract-tal...Add to iGoogle
1 day ago – DETROIT — For generations, labor negotiations here have been the stuff of ... In several instances, the union used Facebook to rebut rumors ...
No comments:
Post a Comment