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Is being pro-union being disloyal to IBM? Being pro-union is being pro-IBM! We want our company to be successful, and we are not ungrateful or disloyal because we want a voice in our workplace. This company was built on the commitment to the individual employee and respect for employee input. In recent years the balance has shifted from benefits for all company stakeholders -- management, employees, stockholders, suppliers, and the community -- to benefits for only a few. IBM employees make this company what it is, and it is clear that we should have a voice in exchange for our contributions. Will having a union make IBM less competitive? Many of the worlds largest and most successful businesses are unionized. Look at companies such as AT&T, Lucent, ABCNews, Dow Jones, and the New York Times -- their employees are unionized and they are successful companies. IBM employees have been unionized for many years in other countries such as Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Japan, and many others. We all have a stake in the business operations of IBM, so why would we negotiate anything that would jeopardize our jobs? Will I lose my individual rights if we have a union? What rights do you have now? In a non-union work place, management retains the legal right to make all decisions regarding our jobs. Benefits can be cut, even without notice to the employees. With our union, benefits and other working conditions cannot be changed at the drop of a hat; they have to be negotiated, and the union members can vote for or against the proposed changes.
Can't I just wait for a vote to show my support for the union? There will never be a vote if a strong majority of employees does not demonstrate support for the union by signing CWA's Authorization petition. The National Labor Relations Board will only bother to schedule a vote if there is significant "show-of-interest". However, even a "show-of-interest" isn't enough. If a solid majority of us aren't willing to sign up for the union, then we know we'll lose the election. What's the point in holding an election that we're guaranteed to lose? Instead, we're going to wait until we have majority support and we know we can win. Unions aren't for white collar employees The number of white collar professionals in unions has been increasing steadily over the last several decades. Engineers at Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, researchers with advanced degrees at the University of California, and professional airline pilots are some examples. Contract software programmers at Microsoft are members of Washtech. Even medical doctors have started their own union, to act collectively in negotiations with HMO's. IBM professionals in other countries, such as Japan and Germany, are union members. What's the difference between the Alliance and the Union? The Alliance @ IBM is a union, because 'union' simply means an organization of employees who seek to improve their conditions at work. There are however, two simultaneous strategies which the Alliance is pursuing to improve work at IBM. One is to immediately press IBM management, Congress, and the courts to correct injustices at IBM. For example, efforts over the pension plan and overtime policies are two examples of this type of strategy. The second strategy is to build support for collective bargaining which will enable us to eventually win an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board and to ultimately guarantee all our rights and benefits in a legally-binding contract.
I will have to join the Union and pay dues no matter what. No one can force you to join the Union or pay dues. There are situations where collective bargaining rights have been gained, when employees are required to pay an "agency fee" which is the amount of money it costs the union to represent that employee whether they chose to join or not. The law requires a union which has been certified as the collective bargaining representative to represent both members and non-members to the best of their ability. Of course, dues or agency fees can only be implemented if union management agrees and a majority of employees vote to ratify a contract that includes this provision. However, it takes some money to run an effective organization even before we can win collective bargaining rights. Voluntary contributions are currently accepted for membership in the Alliance @ IBM for anyone who chooses to pay them to demonstrate support for the organization, but they are certainly not mandatory! What are the contributions to the Alliance used for? As any other organization, your union will need financial resources to to conduct affairs and pay for activities your union organizes. Our union dues will be divided into two major components: the major portion (80%) is kept by our local Alliance office to finance the services provided by the local, and the smaller portion is sent to CWA to finance the services and assistance it provides to us. Some of the many kinds of services which your local and national union provide are: legal research and support; benefits research and reports; representing membership interests before various levels of government; maintaining the operations of our local office, and most importantly, continuing the organizing effort until we reach an elected majority with a negotiated contract. Would employees not be allowed to transfer if the union exists? Nonsense! Having a union means you can have more freedom of choice regarding transfers. Whether through collective bargaining or other means, the union's goal is to provide the employees with as much flexibility and opportunities as possible. Besides, the Alliance @ IBM is made up entirely of people who work at IBM. We choose what to negotiate and which of our co-workers will negotiate on our behalf. We also decide to ratify the agreement they reach or not. Why would we choose to limit our own transfer options?
Why don't we want "temps" in our union? Why not? Temps are some of the most exploited workers at IBM. Low wages and the lack of benefits makes temps an awfully cheap alternative to the relatively more expensive full-time staff. Until temps receive prorated benefits and equitable wages, IBM management will always have an incentive to replace regular jobs with temp employees. What we need to do is to improve conditions for temp workers tot he point where management no longer has an incentive to destroy good jobs and bring in more temps. Could the Union will set limits on what jobs each employee can do? The Alliance @ IBM /CWA will not set limits to the jobs an employee can do. If an employee is limited to a single function and that work becomes obsolete, they're out of a job! That's the last thing anyone wants. On the other hand, if employees are properly cross trained and familiar with several functions, their jobs are much more easily protected and they are more qualified for promotions or higher paid positions with the company. This myth is probably based upon the "craft" union approach practiced by building construction unions which seeks to protect contracted workers by prohibiting others form doing the tasks they are especially trained for. The "craft" model is clearly inappropriate for IBM employees. Could I lose my seniority to anyone who was in the union prior to me? Seniority is based on your start date with IBM of companies it has purchased. This myth is probably also based on the craft union model for contracted workers. The craft union approach only applies to workers who are hired through the union for contracted construction jobs. CWA is not a craft union. CWA is what is called an "industrial" union meaning it seeks to represent people in each company across whole industries. So, a Lucent employee, for example, with 40 years seniority has absolutely no rights to a position at IBM, and vice versa. Your seniority applies only to your company and --after we gain a contract--it will apply whether you ultimately choose to join the union or not.
We don't need a union anymore since IBM fixed the pension plan. It was great to hear that IBM backed down on part of their plan to strip our pensions, but how secure should we feel that we won back for some people something we never should have lost? The real lesson to be learned from IBM's about-face is that our collective action has the power to force IBM to respond to our concerns. IBM employees still have a number of unresolved concerns. For instance, it's important to recognize that more than half of IBM's workforce still does not have a choice on the pension plan, nor do we know that the old pension plan is ultimately even secured. There has also been no mention of reducing our health care premiums, or cutting our unpaid overtime, or when we can expect a significant wage increase. The Alliance @ IBM has not and will not stop pursuing the corrective actions needed to reinstate or improve, the pension plan as well as the medical benefits for all employees. The Alliance needs to continue to grow in strength and activity, now more than ever in order to force even more dramatic and positive changes at IBM. Our momentum has just gotten a shot in the arm by making the Giant blink. Now we need to build support, gain volunteers, and supporters to wake the Giant up! I don't want to sign up as a member of the Alliance because IBM might find out. Your name is required by law to be kept completely confidential by the Alliance@IBM/ CWA. If you want to be a public member, you must check a box on the signup form saying either "Public Supporter" or "I agree to have my name and/or photo used in Alliance @ lBM literature/publications" -- and unless you check that box, it is assumed that you do not want your name published and it will not be published. Union "Stewards" have more rights than other employees. Stewards do, in fact, have more responsibilities than other employees, but have no additional rights or privileges. In CWA and the Alliance @ IBM, there is no such thing as "super-seniority" for stewards or any other special advantages. Stewards are elected to represent employees in each work area and are expected to volunteer their time to assist co-workers who have concerns at work, unfair disciplinary actions taken against them, or ideas they'd like to implement at work. It's generally a difficult job, with the only reward being the satisfaction gained from helping co-workers.
If the union is formed, my wages could actually go down. This is highly unlikely since you'd have to vote to reduce your own Wages! Legally, without a union, management can cut or freeze your salary whenever it chooses. When there is a union, however management cannot legally reduce wages, hours or working conditions of the employees without first getting the consent of the membership through a contract ratification vote. Why would any of us vote to drop our own wages? Generally, the way salaries work in a union setting is that across-the-board increases are negotiated for all employees on a percentage basis for each year of the contract. For those positions where we can demonstrate significantly lower salaries than the industry standards, we can usually negotiate larger increases. In addition, many companies like IBM have merit pay systems. Through a contract, the union generally requires these merit pay plans to be on top of regular salary increases and may even be able to negotiate the percentage of employees to be assessed at each level, to ensure sufficient merit increases are awarded. The overall result, according to the U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, is union employees earn 25%-30% more than non-union employees in the same industry or job type. The Alliance is only for current IBM employees. The Alliance @ IBM is an organization for anyone who wishes to improve conditions at lBM. This includes retirees, temps, contractors, and even supervisors. Our power comes from our unity and there are many issues employees of different status can unite around. For example, retirees, supervisors, professional and manufacturing employees may be concerned about retirement benefits, cola's, and health care. Temps and regular employees are concerned about the low wages and poor benefits provided to temps, but also the lack of available regular positions at IBM. Obviously this is an issue for temps, but it also affects regular employees whose jobs are threatened by management's over-reliance on this relatively cheap alternative to regular employment. Another example of an issue which may effect anyone who sets foot in an IBM building is the availability of protective equipment, safety, ergonomic equipment, air quality, chemical use, etc. If the union is formed, negotiations will start from minimum wage. Nonsense! Negotiations start from exactly where our wages and benefits are currently. Then through the negotiation process, improvements are made. In fact, without a union, management can change, reduce, or drop our wages and benefits at any time. With a union, however, management cannot legally reduce any of our benefits, wages, or change any of our current working conditions without seeking our approval through negotiations. The tentative agreement reached through negotiations then has to be ratified by us, the employees, before management can implement any changes. Why would we vote to accept less than we have now? The answer, of course, is that we wouldn't. The overall result of bargaining over wages, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, is union employees earn 25%-30% more than non-union employees in the same industry or job type. I'm considered an "exempt" employee. Can I be part of the union? Absolutely! The term "exempt" means that your position is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act - it has nothing to do with your eligibility for participation in the union. The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the rules regarding eligibility for overtime pay and has no relationship to your eligibility for collective bargaining. In fact, thousands of "exempt" employees are covered by CWA contracts. Any employee is eligible to be represented by the union as long as the National Labor Relations Board does not rule that the employee is a "manager", "supervisory", or "confidential" employee under the guidelines set by the Board.
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| Updated 12/06/04 |
