JANUARY 2006
Sunday Sales
Many of you have
heard that UFCW Local 21 has reached
a tentative agreement regarding
Sunday Sales. The
agreement that WPEA reached with the
State requires that “In the event
that a Sunday rate greater than 1
and 1/3 is negotiated and agreed to
between UFCW 1001 (21) and the
State, concerning SHB 1379, such
rate will be offered to WPEA.”
WPEA fully expects to discuss
the implementation of this portion of our agreement with the
Labor Relations Office (LRO) early next week. Check
back for an update.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
Volunteer Work on Sundays
WPEA
became aware yesterday that District
Managers were asking Liquor Store
Managers to "volunteer" to work in
Sunday Sales stores.
This is not what
WPEA negotiated, nor is it the intent of
our agreement. WPEA advises Liquor Store
Managers to refuse to volunteer. The
intent of our agreement was that if
UFCW Local 1001 Clerks did not show up for
work on Sunday that Liquor Control Board
administrators would perform their
duties. If you have any questions,
please contact
Leslie Liddle at 1-800-544-WPEA.
AUGUST 16, 2005
Hello To Everyone,
Lately, we have
been wondering what has been
happening with our grievances
and the Sunday Sales
negotiations on which our WPEA
staff has been working. I want
to assure everyone that our
union leadership has indeed been
working on our behalf. They are
effectively working through the
appropriate channels.
Today,
Leslie Liddle,
Wayne Nelson,
Tess
Millar, and I participated
in a meeting with a
representative of the new
supergod of all things
negotiable - the Labor Relations
Office.
The topic on the
"table" was Sunday sales
compensation and staffing
responsibilities for the
20-store, pilot program. The
LRO negotiator presented us with
a Memo of Understanding, needed
to clear the path for pilot
stores' staffing on
Sundays. Leslie astutely
recognized sneaky language in
the memo which could have
used Store Managers from other
stores as surrogate clerks in
pilot stores which may be unable
to fill shifts with assigned
Assistant Managers and
clerks. She steadfastly insisted
on revisions for this and other
less-than-clear language. I
believe that her skillfulness
resulted in an agreement that we
can all live with.
It states that
"Employees who are assigned to
work on a Sunday as a result of
SHB 1379 will be paid at a rate
of one and one third (1-1/3)
times the employee's hourly
salary for all hours worked."
This essentially provides for
Sunday premium pay, and does not
impact the overtime language
of our contract. Our work week
is Sunday through Saturday, so
if we work on Sunday we earn
premium pay for those hours. If
we then work more than forty
hours in that week, we receive
overtime pay (at 1-1/2 times our
hourly salary) for anything over
40 hours. The Sunday premium pay
is still paid, along with the
overtime hours.
Leslie also
shared that she will be meeting
soon with LRO to resolve the
grievances she filed on our
behalf. She is confident in our
case and will convey to us the
outcome. Each grievance is being
argued independently of each
other, as is the Sunday sales
issue.
If you have any
questions, please e-mail or call
me at (253) 838-5609. Also,
please ask any other managers
that want to participate in this
communication venue to join the
list. Tess is trying to compile
a comprehensive list, so we may
be better informed and less
isolated.
AUGUST 12, 2005
Sunday Sales
The
state's Labor Relations Office has finally decided to bargain the
change in working conditions for those members effected by the
passage of the
Sunday Sales
(SHB 1379) legislation signed by the
Governor in April. The changes brought
about by this are mandatory subjects of
bargaining. WPEA expected the employer
to initiate a request to bargain.
Receiving none, we requested such in
June. The state replied that they
intended to implement Sunday Sales
without negotiating the impacts of such
with WPEA. WPEA prepared a ULP to file.
In the meantime, the state reconsidered
their position and offered to discuss
implementation with WPEA.
As you know,
UFCW Local 1001's negotiations regarding
Sunday work has broken down and the
parties are at impasse. The state's
last best offer was for time and a third
for Sunday work. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE
AGREED TO when the legislation was
presented to us. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE
AGREED TO when a colloquy was presented
on the floor of the House. THIS IS NOT
WHAT WAS FUNDED in the fiscal notes for
the legislation.
WPEA (Tess
Millar, Mona Moloney, Wayne Nelson, and
Leslie Liddle) will meet with the
representatives of the Governor's office
on Monday (8/15) at 9am to discuss this
matter. We will keep you posted via the
website as things change.
WPEA is very
concerned with PROMISES BROKEN in this
matter and will actively consider all
options.
Bargaining Units