Union Question

[Ms.PacMan]

I got an email from a friend last night and this was something she asked me.....

I have a question about unions, but I'm sure they are all different. XXXXXX plant workers are union. A friend of ours works there and she claims that in the union contract they are not allowed to report another worker for poor work performance.

Recently, there was a guy on the line that repeatedly shut off a metal detector which scans the meat. A knife broke off and must have passed through the detector after he shut it off. Now XXXXXX has to recall all this meat. All the workers knew what this guy was doing, but claim they can't "rat" out another worker. Do you think it's true? I can't imagine a contract doing this when harm could come to a consumer or result in a huge financial loss to the company.


I told her that because a contract is an agreement between a company and the union, that no, no such wording was likely to be in their contract. IMO there seems to be a lot lacking on both the part of management and hourlies in this meat packing plant.

 

[barnyard]

If a person were to say, "Hap Happenplab turns off the metal detector all the time" and discipline resulted, the person that reported it could be brought up on charges within the union that could result in expulsion. It is up to supervisors to supervise. If the person wanted to make management aware, the correct wording would be, "Maybe you should check the power connections on the metal detector. Frequently I see that it is off and wonder if it is defective."

 

[PiedmontSteward]

I got an email from a friend last night and this was something she asked me.....

I have a question about unions, but I'm sure they are all different. XXXXXX plant workers are union. A friend of ours works there and she claims that in the union contract they are not allowed to report another worker for poor work performance.

Recently, there was a guy on the line that repeatedly shut off a metal detector which scans the meat. A knife broke off and must have passed through the detector after he shut it off. Now XXXXXX has to recall all this meat. All the workers knew what this guy was doing, but claim they can't "rat" out another worker. Do you think it's true? I can't imagine a contract doing this when harm could come to a consumer or result in a huge financial loss to the company.


I told her that because a contract is an agreement between a company and the union, that no, no such wording was likely to be in their contract. IMO there seems to be a lot lacking on both the part of management and hourlies in this meat packing plant.

This sounds like one of those anti-union anecdotes that gets misinterpreted and spreads around like a bad case of the clap in a college town..

For her to friend report her fellow union member would not be a contractual breach - I can't imagine any company agreeing to provisions in a Collective Bargaining Agreement that prevented their employees from alerting management about another worker sabotaging an operation.

However, there is an unwritten rule that union members don't inform on brother/sister union members. This stems from the late 1800's/early 1900's when company goon squads were literally gunning us down in the street, there were no (threadbare today, but better than nothing) NLRB protections for workers trying to organize, et cetera.

 

[InsideUPS]

I got an email from a friend last night and this was something she asked me.....

I have a question about unions, but I'm sure they are all different. XXXXXX plant workers are union. A friend of ours works there and she claims that in the union contract they are not allowed to report another worker for poor work performance.

Recently, there was a guy on the line that repeatedly shut off a metal detector which scans the meat. A knife broke off and must have passed through the detector after he shut it off. Now XXXXXX has to recall all this meat. All the workers knew what this guy was doing, but claim they can't "rat" out another worker. Do you think it's true? I can't imagine a contract doing this when harm could come to a consumer or result in a huge financial loss to the company.


I told her that because a contract is an agreement between a company and the union, that no, no such wording was likely to be in their contract. IMO there seems to be a lot lacking on both the part of management and hourlies in this meat packing plant.

I will bet that she cannot reference/verify that language in her contract book. Have her scan/send you the exact language from the contract that she is referencing.

As for me, I would have NO problem turning in anyone that is jeopardizing the life of others or the reputation of us as a company and as a Union. There are "bad apples" in every group. That said, everyone is entitled to be properly represented by the Union whether they are considered a bad apple or not.

 

[stink219]

Question! Could the employee that messed up have potentially put himself, his coworkers and the general public at risk?

 

[brown_trousers]

If a person were to say, "Hap Happenplab turns off the metal detector all the time" and discipline resulted, the person that reported it could be brought up on charges within the union that could result in expulsion. It is up to supervisors to supervise. If the person wanted to make management aware, the correct wording would be, "Maybe you should check the power connections on the metal detector. Frequently I see that it is off and wonder if it is defective."

Never place blame on another union member! But you never really have to anyways. Report the incident and just leave names out of it. I would have just reported that "the metal detector seems to be turned off alot" without pointing a finger at who was responsible for it. Then it is managements responsibility to investigate why or who is responsiblie for that metal detector turning off.