Welcome to the machine (part three)

The Class Action Grievance has been settled.

I received this email from Robert Rodriguez, Assistant Clerk Director (A).
I met with Donna in Labor; we settled the grievance to have a Union steward present at all safety talks/ stand up talks for the DBCS for 90 days from the date of signing (5/9/2008).

Management will coordinate with the Chief Steward on Tour 1, or his designee, and will sit in on all meetings. This will translate into four distinct meetings per week (one meeting per each auto).

If Management does not comply with this settlement, then I will contact Donna Dunker and she will contact Bruno to ensure compliance.

I have placed a copy of this settlement inside the bulletin board at the GMF.
You can read it here.

How does this affect us? I’m not sure but it does bring Safety Issues back on the front burner and that’s where it needs to be. The last two weeks, I attended Safety Talks. Let’s see if it continues. If not, there should be a flood of grievances flowing in to Bruno’s office.

Safety talks (meetings), with your Safety Captain or supervisor in the room has the opportunity for feedback from you to them with all of your co-workers present for validation and encouragement. It’s the only time available to us for this because the last three or four meetings that the plant manager had with us in the cafeteria held no opportunity for Q&A. He dismissed us rapidly and it was obvious that he did not want to entertain any feedback from us.

I encourage each and every one of you to get involved with the Safety Issues that we face working these machines. Don’t just complain to your partner or the supervisor that you may have a certain night. Bring these issues to the forefront at your Safety Talks. This is where it’s not just you complaining but countless others that are experiencing the same ordeals. And I encourage each and every one of you to speak up when another brings up an issue for the validation of his or her complaint. We are in this together!