JANUARY 2006
Sunday Sales Update
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). Check
back for updates soon.
NOVEMBER 22, 2005
Liquor Store Managers Present "Vote of
No Confidence"
to Washington State
Liquor Control Board
Members of WPEA'S Liquor Store Managers
(LSM) bargaining unit will present their
"Vote of No Confidence" in the
Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB)
members and its Executive Director
to the Board at noon today. The
sentiment which led to this action has
been steeping for quite some time. In
the past two years, Liquor Store
Managers have seen their individual
store budgets remain stagnant while they
are required to increase their bottle
sales. Store Managers have had their
"managerial" duties stripped away -- losing the ability to manage their store
to best meet the needs of the local
customers and those of the state.
The LSM bargaining
unit identified other reasons to take
this action:
-
No regard for the
labor relations concept -- no
commitment to a smoothly operating
system of cooperative business
practices along with a lack of
conviction for basic principles of
employee rights and due process.
-
Excessive
regulatory controls that demean the
professional integrity of employees.
-
Put practices in
effect with the onset of the new
union contract to make the union
look responsible in an attempt to
destroy the relationship between the
union and its members.
-
Moved from an
"open door" policy to one of hiring
extra management to act as buffers
between labor and management.
-
Encourages poor
recruitment practices such as
failing to provide a mechanism for
transfers while filling bargaining
unit positions with non-permanent
appointments.
The customers of the
state liquor stores are suffering from
bad business decisions, such as:
-
A warehouse
management system that cannot meet
customer needs.
-
New
"point-of-sale" system which relies
on the use of scanners in the stores
that slows the process of accepting
shipments and causes inaccuracies in
inventory.
The
"Vote of No
Confidence" ballots were sent to our 147
Store Managers on September 16. On
October 7, the ballots were opened and
counted. The results were 106 ballots
returned, 97 supporting No Confidence in
the Liquor Control Board and its
Executive Director and 9 supporting
Confidence.
"This is an
overwhelming referendum on the way in
which the Retail Division of the agency
is performing," said WPEA President Greg
Parker. "And is not simply an exercise.
WPEA/UFCW Local 365 expects a visible,
positive change in the working
relationship of our members."
This is also a wake up
call for the LCB, that the employees in
the Retail Division are frustrated and
upset with the lack of support to
adequately fulfill the mission of the
agency -- to serve the public by
preventing the misuse of alcohol through
controlled distribution and to provide
excellent customer service by operating
efficient, convenient retail stores.
WPEA’s mission is to
empower Washington public employees
through education, representation,
member support, a quality work
environment and a quality standard of
living. They also have set the highest
ethical standards to guide employees in
working for the citizens of Washington
State.
OCTOBER 2005
Liquor Store Managers Call for
"Vote of No Confidence"
The members of the Liquor
Store Managers (LSM) bargaining unit
called for a Vote of No Confidence on
the Washington State Liquor Control
Board (LCB) members and its
Executive Director. The sentiment
which led to this action has been
steeping for quite some time. In the
past two years, Liquor Store Managers
have seen their individual store budgets
remain stagnant while they are required
to increase their bottle sales. Store
Managers have had their "managerial"
duties stripped away -- losing the
ability to manage their store to best
meet the needs of the local customers
and those
of the state.
Overwhelming
Referendum
The Ballots of No Confidence were sent
to our 147 Store Managers on September
16. On October 7, the ballots were
opened and counted. The results were 106
ballots returned, 97 supporting No
Confidence in the Liquor Control Board
and its Executive Director and 9
supporting Confidence.
This is an overwhelming referendum on
the way in which the Retail Division of
the agency is performing.
What’s Next?
The next step is to inform the Governor
of the feelings of the employees and
offer the opportunity to meet with her
to verbalize our issues. This is a wake
up call for the LCB, that the employees
in the Retail Division are frustrated
and upset with the lack of support to
adequately fulfill the mission of the
agency -- to serve the public by
preventing the misuse of alcohol through
controlled distribution and to provide
excellent customer service by operating
efficient, convenient retail stores.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2005
WPEA
Files 40 Group Grievances for Liquor Store Managers
regarding numerous issues, such as scheduling,
uniforms,
leave and comp time, and
Sunday Sales.
The 40 group grievances
for scheduling, uniforms, leave and comp
time were consolidated into 4 and heard
at the Step 2 level.
Regarding the
Uniforms:
Management agreed to have the
vests/smocks of store managers laundered
at agency expense.
Regarding the
Incorrect Direction that Any Leave Must
be Pre-approved:
Management portrayed this as a
misunderstanding - WPEA disagrees with
this perception and told them so -
however, they did agree to
correct/update the information (however
we have not seen proof yet).
Regarding the Comp
Time:
Management agreed to rescind the
comp time portion of the scheduling
“rules” which will afford employees the
right to request to earn compensatory
time in lieu of cash for overtime.
Regarding Scheduling:
Management did not agree to any of the
remedies and this has been moved to the
Step 3 - Agency Head - level.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
Sunday Sales Update
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 WPEA President,
Greg
Parker, at 1-800-544-WPEA x104.
AUGUST 16, 2005
Sunday Sales Update
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
"super-god" 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.
