It's been over a month since CEO Bob Trunzo announced that he would do "The right thing to do for the future of this company." Over a month since he promised that "We're going to do our best to create certainty for you." So far, we haven't heard much.

During the last month, the Union met with the Company in what was described as a "disappointing" meeting that lacked anything like specifics. No new layoffs of Union Members have been announced (the changes to the Retirement Services area had been announced well before Trunzo's announcement). The Union will continue to press for information and to offer input but there's nothing we can do as long as the Company fails to present either a timeline or a list of areas affected.

In other news, the Union did meet with the Company to discuss positions that have been moved into management that we feel should be part of the bargaining unit. During negotiations last March, both the Union and the Company agreed to review positions that were out of the Union and determine if they had been properly classified out of the Union.

Employees excluded from coverage under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) include supervisors, managers, confidential employees, and others. Under the NLRA:

• A supervisor is defined as someone who uses independent judgment to make personnel decisions or to recommend personnel decisions. Personnel decisions include hiring, promoting, transferring, rewarding, and terminating employees.
• A managerial employee is defined as someone who makes, executes, and exercises independent judgment about management policies. Managerial employees normally do not manage people.
• A confidential employee is defined as someone who assists and acts in a confidential capacity to the management personnel who make and implement labor relations policies, or as someone who has regular access to confidential information about future bargaining strategy or changes that the employer anticipates may result from collective bargaining.
• Other employees who are excluded from the bargaining unit include independent contractors, agricultural workers, domestic workers, people employed by a parent or a spouse, and public employees.

If we determine that there are jobs being done that belong in the Union, we'll bring those folks back into the Union so that they can have the full protection of the Collective Bargaining agreement, including the recent wins on health care, paid parental leave, and job protections.

While we're doing this for CMFG, this is something that should be done for all units. Companies need to be held accountable for the contracts they sign, and that means following the rules as to what is -- and is not -- bargaining unit work.

Finally, we're at the mid-year point. Some of us have gotten mid-year reviews, others may still be waiting. But, don't wait. If you haven't had a chance to discuss with your manager how you are doing, please make time to do so as soon as possible. Ask how you are doing. Insist on having one-on-one discussions about performance. You should never be surprised by the results of a review but it really is on all of us to make sure that doesn't happen. Especially as the company refuses to fill positions, if you are finding it hard to keep up, work with your manager to set your priorities. That's their job, and they need to know how the worker shortage is affecting the Company.

If you do discover that you are trending towards "Unsuccessful" then you need to contact a Steward or the Union office right away. There are protections built into the contracts to make sure that you get what you need to get back on track.