|
UNION NEWS
WORKERS GAIN MORE
CONTROL OVER WORK HOURS
Britain’s Transport and General Workers’
Union (T&G) worked with Tucker Fasteners to
introduce a flex-time work schedule for its 460
employees. The goal was to give employees more
control over work hours. A pilot scheme was introduced
that met both employee and employer needs. T&G
members use a swipe card to record their time
on the job and may not accumulate overtime hours,
except in special circumstances. Employees must
work the core hours of 9:30-3:30 but other hours
are flexible. The pilot project was so popular
that it was later widened to cover all permanent
staff. The T&G is the biggest British union
with over 900,000 members in a variety of industries. (Transport & General Workers’ Union
& Tucker Fasteners)
CALIF AFL-CIO STAFF
WIN FULLY PAID FAMILY LEAVE
Staff at the California Labor Federation recently
won contract language that entitles them to full
pay when taking up to six weeks leave under California’s
new paid family leave law. Employees eligible
for paid leave receive up to 55% of their salary
through the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program
and the rest from the employer. Staff members
who aren’t eligible for paid family leave
will receive three weeks of paid parental leave.
Employees receive job protection while on paid
leave.
Employees of one year or more may take up to 12
months of unpaid child-rearing leave without loss
of seniority. The employee receives job protection
and, upon returning to work, any pay increases
given to his/her classification during the leave.
(The Newspaper Guild Local 39521, CWA & California
Labor Federation)
VERIZON
EMPLOYEES MAY WORK 4 DAY WORK WEEK
CWA members at a number of Verizon facilities
have contract language that establishes a four-day
schedule as a normal workweek for certain work
units. The hours normally worked over 5 days can
be equally scheduled over 4 days. The union works
with management to establish the parameters and
implementation procedures for any four-day workweek
schedules. (Communication Workers of America
& Verizon North)
UNION MEMBERS WIN SHORTER
WORK WEEK
Britain’s General Union (GMB) and Playtex,
the underwear manufacturer, conducted a survey
on various flextime options for the 450 hourly
employees and 150 office staff. The survey showed
that workers would prefer a 4-day week option
and an early start time. A pilot project was created
with GMB members working a 38.5-hour week over
four days. The new flextime schedule, giving workers
a 3-day weekend was very popular and was made
permanent. (Britain’s General Union
& Playtex)
FLORIDA TEACHERS
GET OPTION OF JOB SHARE
The Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association,
AFT successfully negotiated a Job Sharing Program
with the local school district. Designed to hire
and maintain qualified teachers, the program is
available to teachers including those returning
from maternity, adoption or family leave, anticipating
retirement within a year, or teachers wanting
a temporary part-time position for medical reasons.
Current salary and benefits are pro-rated. Participants
are responsible for finding their own job share
partner. (Hillsborough Classroom Teachers
Association, AFT & School District of Hillsborough
County)
British Unions Take
the Lead on Flexible Work Schedules
By Nikki Dones and Jo Morris
In 1998, when the people of Bristol asked local
libraries to open on Sunday, Bristol City Council
decided to reform its outdated flextime system.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), the British equivalent
of the AFL-CIO, and the Employers’ Organization
worked alongside the Council and local unions
to help develop a new library system that met
everyone’s needs. A staff survey showed
workers were interested in trying different work
hours for a variety of reasons including more
family time and pursuing further education. A
pilot project was introduced allowing libraries
to open 7 days a week, with changes in working
hours being voluntary. Many part-time staff volunteered
to work Sundays for additional hours and full-time
staff that volunteered to work Sundays had the
ability to change their minds.
The libraries’ flexible work scheme was
so popular with staff that other city departments,
including pest control and refuse collection,
asked to work on self-managed flexible shifts.
Services also stayed open to the public for longer
hours, while workers had the option of starting
early or leaving late without increasing their
work hours.
The flexible work options like those in Bristol,
have become an integral part of the TUC’s
drive to create a better work-life balance for
its members. At the same time, all British workers
have made it a top demand in the workplace. Creating
a work-life balance is not simple. British research
shows that any imposed change, with little say
from staff and their unions about working hours,
is likely to result in an unproductive and unhappy
workforce. Therefore, fundamental to the TUC’s
commitment is the insistence that any changes
to work hours be voluntary and that implementation
be done through consensus-building – or
social partnership - between employer
and unions. The TUC pushed for workers to get
more choice and control over working hours, while
the needs of business were being met.
The TUC developed the Changing Times
process (see resources) to help implement positive
workplace flexibility. The process includes surveys,
guidance for conducting focus groups, training
materials for managers and staff, and different
flextime options. The TUC has worked with a number
of unions to organize working time in a way that
meets the needs of the business and staff. According
to John Monks, then TUC General Secretary (now
European TUC Secretary –General), “Employees
want flexibility to balance their lives and do
their jobs well; employers want flexibility in
order to compete and provide better services.”
A 2002 study, The Nature and Pattern of Family-Friendly
Employment Polices in Britain, showed family-friendly
companies to be more successful in the new global
economy (see below*). Rather than increased responsibilities,
longer work hours, and lower wages being the keys
to higher profits, 9 out of 10 workplaces with
family-friendly policies like job sharing, flextime
and telecommuting, showed positive effects on
financial performance and labor productivity.
The study found that flexible working arrangements
were more common in unionized workplaces and that
unions have been instrumental in developing these,
and other solutions, to balancing work and family.
Since 2003, parents of young children in Britain
have had the legal right to work flexible and/or
part-time hours and, while the right has some
limitations, it has become increasingly popular.
Where union collective agreements ensure that
part-time workers do not lose out on benefits
or pay, flexible working has become popular with
young parents, caregivers, older workers and individuals
wanting to further their education.
Work-life balance has become an important recruitment
and retention tool in Britain. It leads unions
and employers to work together organizing working
time in a way that suits the needs of staff and
business. Where there is a genuine partnership
approach everyone can benefit and the workplace
can begin to reflect the real lives of working
families.
*Access the study online at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/5112.asp
Jo Morris is the Senior Equality and Employment
Rights Officer at the TUC.
Message from the Executive
Director, Netsy Firestein
Being a small, non-profit based in
California, but working on national issues has
always been a challenge for us. In June, we formed
the National Advisory Board of the Labor Project,
made up of dynamic and innovative union leaders
who have a deep commitment to labor’s leadership
on work and family issues. We are very excited
about the potential of the Advisory Board who
will help us advocate for work and family issues
at the national level. Some of the Board’s
initial focus will be to assist in the development
of a work/family curriculum for labor educators;
update materials on bargaining for work and family;
and promote work/family policies within their
unions at the state and national levels.
National Advisory Board members:
Kathleen A. Casavant, Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Patti Devlin, Laborers’ International Union
of North America (LIUNA)
Irasema Garza, American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Mary G. Hardiman, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (IBT)
Carol Joyner, 1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Fund
Deborah King, New York Union Child Care Committee
Karen Nussbaum, AFL-CIO
Chris Owens, AFL-CIO
Sharon Stiller, United Steelworkers of America
(USWA)
Karla Swift, United Automobile, Aerospace &
Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
California's Paid Leave
Benefit:
Study Shows Broad Support But Lack of Knowledge
New data from two recent state surveys
shows that Californians are overwhelmingly supportive
of the idea of paid family leave, but that relatively
few are aware of the new state law that took effect
on July 1, 2004. [The new California law provides
6 weeks of paid family leave, at 55% of the worker’s
normal salary, to care for a new child or a seriously
ill family member. The benefit is paid through
the State Disability Insurance Program.] Only
about one in five (22%) respondents indicated
that they were familiar with the new law in a
fall 2003 survey of California adults. Awareness
was especially low among the groups that are least
likely to have access to employer-sponsored paid
time off – women, low-wage workers, immigrants,
and disadvantaged racial-ethnic groups. A forthcoming
article by Ruth Milkman (UCLA) and Eileen Appelbaum
(Rutgers University) in The State of California
Labor 2004, published by the University of
California’s Institute for Labor and Employment,
analyzes the new data on paid family leave.
The survey data Milkman and Appelbaum analyze
also provide insight into the ways in which, prior
to the implementation of the new law, employers
and employees in the state handled the kinds of
events that the paid family leave program now
covers. Many Californians have taken family leaves
in the past. The article reports that many employers
in the state – especially large employers;
those that are unionized; and those with a relatively
large proportion of professional, managerial and
technical employees – already provided family
and medical leave benefits beyond those required
by law before the establishment of the
state’s new program.
Milkman and Appelbaum also suggest that employers
– especially those that previously provided
benefits that could be used to support paid leave
– may be the major conduits for information
about the new program. Some employers actually
reap cost savings by coordinating the benefits
that are now available from the state with those
that they themselves provide.
The new state law was intended to extend access
to paid family leave to all workers, especially
those who previously lacked access to wage replacement
for bonding with a new child or to care for a
seriously ill family member. But if awareness
of it does not extend well beyond those workers
whose employers have long provided paid time off,
the new law will have little effect on ameliorating
the disparity between workers who previously had
access to paid leaves (via employer-sponsored
benefits) and those who lacked such access.
For the text of the Milkman/Appelbaum article,
visit www.familyleave.ucla.edu
U.S.
Lags Far Behind in Policies That Allow Workers
to Care for Children and Family Members
A report by the Project on Global Working
Families found the United States lagging behind
other countries in many areas including leave
policies and services for children. The Project
is devoted to understanding and improving the
relationship between working conditions and family
health and well-being internationally. Below are
some highlights from the report regarding the
U. S.’ performance.
Does the U. S. Measure Up?
When it comes to the right to work, the U. S.
is well-situated in the company of many other
countries that ensure the equitable right to work
across racial and ethnic groups, for men and women,
regardless of age or disability. However, when
it comes to ensuring decent working conditions,
the U.S. is far behind in many areas. This is
particularly true when one examines the working
conditions that are needed to care for children
and other family members.
Areas where the U.S. lags behind:
Working Conditions
- • 163 countries around the world offer
guaranteed paid leave to women in connection
with childbirth. The U.S. does not.
• 45 countries ensure that fathers either receive paid paternity or parental leave. The U.S. guarantees neither.
• At least 76 countries protect working women’s right to breastfeed; the U.S. does not, in spite of the fact that breastfeeding has been shown to reduce infant mortality seven-fold.
• At least 96 countries around the world in all geographic regions and at all economic levels mandate paid annual leave (vacation). The U.S. does not require employers to provide paid annual leave.
• 40 countries have government-mandated evening and night wage premiums. The U.S. does not.
• At least 98 countries require employers to provide a mandatory day of rest: a period of at least 24 hours off each week. The U.S. does not guarantee workers this weekly break.
• At least 84 countries have laws that fix the maximum length of the work week. The U.S. does not have a maximum length of the work week or a limit on mandatory overtime per week.
- • The U.S. is tied with Ecuador and Suriname
for 39th in enrollment in early childhood care
and education for 3-5 year olds. Nearly all
European countries perform better. A wide range
of developing countries had higher enrollment
rates than the U.S., despite being poorer.
• The U.S. is tied for 91st out of 151 countries in the area of preprimary (preschool) student-to-staff ratios.
-
• U.S. policy does well in guaranteeing rights
to attend school and the right to work.
• The U.S. also does provide support for the elderly (social security).
Child Care at Union Meetings?
Family Friendly Conventions?
Union Involvement Becomes a Family Affair
By Jenya Cassidy
As active union members struggle to balance work,
family and labor activism, unions are finding
ways to make union events family friendly. When
locals and internationals provide child care at
meetings and create events for the whole family,
their members no longer have to choose between
spending time with their family and helping build
the union.
The Labor Project is conducting an informal survey
of unions who provide child care and/or have regular
family events. Here are some examples of what
unions are doing:
- • UNITE
HERE Conventions encourage members to make a family
vacation out of the trip by organizing family
activities during the day.
• AFSCME provides child care at union conventions. And AFSCME, New Mexico has regular family events including Halloween parties and 4th of July barbeques to make the union more of a community.
• The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) created a “Family Care Allowance” to help members cover family care costs while attending union meetings. The allowance covers care for children under 17, people with disabilities and the elderly.
• SEIU provides child care at its national conventions. SEIU Local 535 in Oakland reimburses members for child care when they attend union executive board meetings, conferences and other union events.
• Carpenters Local 713 in Hayward, California provides child care for membership meetings, has an annual Christmas party for members’ children and an annual family outing at the waterslides.
• AFT Oregon connects members to babysitting services for statewide meetings and chooses venues with programs for the whole family.
Please contact the Labor Project for Working
Families with examples from your union. Call
510/642-5498 or e-mail Jenya Cassidy at jcassidy@uclink.berkeley.edu.
RESOURCES
Changing Times: A TUC
Guide to Work-Life Balance
This comprehensive publication provides
details on the Trades Union Congress Changing
Times process for bringing flexibility
to the workplace. It includes tools for unions
for bringing about change including how to team-build
and plan projects, conduct a survey and focus
groups, and establish learning centers. There
are case studies as well as findings from a
government survey on work-life balance.
Also sign up for the Changing Times
E-newsletter! A free bi-monthly E-newsletter
from the TUC that gives a summary of news, resources,
and case studies on changing times at work in
Britain and Europe.
Order both online at www.tuc.org.uk/changingtimes
Work/Family
Conflict, Union Style: Labor Arbitrations Involving
Family Care
A new study by the Program on WorkLife Law at
American University's Washington College of
Law looked at all published arbitrations and
found 29 cases in which caregivers were severely
punished for choosing family obligations over
work when the two conflicted. The report offers
specific steps that unions, employers and employees
can take to reduce work-family conflict in unionized
companies, and can be downloaded at www.worklifelaw.org
Unions that can provide access to their grievance
records to the researchers to better understand
the scope of the issues are urged to contact
Mary Still at mcstill@wcl.american.edu.
Overtime Alert
On Sept. 9th, the House voted 223-193 in support
of the Obey-Miller amendment to restore overtime
protection for 6 million workers. This was the
fifth time Congress has voted to stop the Administration
from eliminating overtime for workers. At press
time, the Senate Appropriations had just passed
a similar overtime protection amendment by a
vote of 16-13, and identical language is now
in both the House and Senate bills. Now the
main obstacle to enacting this legislation is
opposition from the White House, which has issued
a veto threat.
In addition to new regulations that take away
overtime from 6 million workers, President Bush
has also proposed legislation that would diminish
overtime rights for those workers who are still
eligible for overtime. The Bush proposal for
"comp time" would allow employers
to pay workers nothing for overtime work if
they later give those workers time off, with
employers having discretion over when workers
take the time off. Comp time would encourage
employers to demand even more overtime hours
and leave working families with LESS control
over their work hours.
To take action on these issues, visit www.aflcio.org
For more information, contact Rachna Choudhry
at the AFL-CIO, Rchoudhr@aflcio.org
Labor Family News is published quarterly by:
Labor Project for Working Families
2521 Channing Way #5555
Berkeley, CA 94720
Ph: 510-643-7088
Fax: 510-642-6432
lpwf@berkeley.edu
www.working-families.org
Netsy Firestein
Editor
Jenya Cassidy
Managing Editor
Reprints Permitted With Acknowledgement. Call
us for an email version.
