It
makes sense to join a Union or does
it?
What they did to us
They can do to you!!
The remarks are my
Own personal opinion.
As I have seen it
|
It makes sense to join a |
Some will say
"The primary reason to join a
union is to make sure your wages and benefits are adequate and that they will
be protected in the future.
In the long run your pay and benefits
will substantially exceed those of your non-union peers."
(THAT IS
I tried to be open minded and I personally don't have
anything against the Unions, and I’m sure somewhere there is a good
But it’s not the Operating Engineers Local 501.
If you
are sure you want to look for a Union
I suggest that you do some home work. Investigate the
See what other members
of the
1) Negotiating the
contract.
2) Health Insurance
3) Representation during a grievance
4) Training program
5) Contract with the correct pay scale
6) Information coming from the
Do they keep all union members and non-union members informed of all meetings?
Do they send correct information to
the members & the company?
|
Remember: Any local Don’t feel just because you’re a Slot Tech in You have joined the Operating Engineers Local 501. |
Don’t over look things like:
A) BEREAVEMENT LEAVE (Make sure you get it the
contract)
B) SICK DAYS (Could have been worked out)
Although, it is the responsibility of everyone to plan for
retirement and save for the days they are sick. PEOPLE
So we wanted the
(That's the Union
working for its members)
C) TRAINING
That’s a long story
The Letter I started found its way to both the
Basically, it would be STUPID to be paying in to Apprentice
Training Trust Fund when the
If the
Turns out we have no training (Nothing from the
D) Rights to Bid on Jobs they must be JOKING (Watch out
for this one!)
Sure, one would think that once the Contract was signed.
They would put the current shifts up for bid. Well, we have been
The contract would lead you to believe that you could, as
it talks about exercising your Seniority Rights. As, the Union Rep. would
say, "That may be what is written in the contract but that is not what
we meant ".
NOW after 5 months, as of 29 July 02. The company is
putting up all shifts for bid, except for 3 of them, which do not have to go up
for bid.
They even extending the biding to include the 3 guys that
are on probation, they did not have to do that - but it was nice.
Good NEWS,
the shifts are still 4/ 10's, and I would hope that would put to rest the
threat of the 5/8s we had to live with for the past 2 years.
They do have a NON-standard way of posting shifts. If
you call it posted?
I can see many will be surprised when the Final
schedules are posted.
Remember during Negotiating Benefits
Some will say, “In addition to getting paid more, Union members also tend to
have better benefits than non-Union workers.”
The Company that I work for give some good Benefits, some
has found that since we are now Union - They do not get the Benefits the
Company gives to other employees - and of course was left out of the contract.
It's like give and take; you gain a few and loose a few.
What you loose just might be worth more
To you then what you gained.
Starting the
The Employees that did the groundwork to bring in the
I was not impressed with what he said. Most of what he said
to my question was
“Well in the past it was”
“Can’t
cross the line and say”.
I took the signature cards back to the guys at work, and
told them I was not impressed and if it came down to a vote, I would have to Vote NO…
Someone else will have to continue and return the cards to
the Local 501 if they still wanted the
The
No Votes was -
Myself - Harry L - Joe G
1) First Problem
I joined the
The
I could not agree to that, as I could not stop the
payments till the 1st Year Anniversary
and then it only had a 15-day window to stop the payments.
The way I see it the
I retyped the authorization form, where I can stop it
at any time.
PAYROLL DEDUCTION AUTHORIZATION
TROPICANA HOTEL (SLOTS)
(EMPLOYER)
I, the undersigned, Becoming a member of the International
Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 501, hereby request and voluntarily
authorize the Employer to deduct from my wages or compensation due me, the
regular monthly dues, applicable to the members in accordance with the Constitution
and the by-laws of the
This authorization shell remain in effect unless I revoke it
by sending written notice to both the Employer and the International Union of
Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 501, by certified mail. Subsequent to the
date of termination of the applicable contract between the employer and the
I reserve my right to Resign my Union membership and cut off any further dues collections from my salary at any time.
Dues Amount (2 times Hourly wage Plus $7.00)
Current amount would be $________________
Month Needed APRIL 2002
Name: (Please Print)
_____________________________
Signature
______________________________________
Date: _____________
They told me that was not acceptable. What they wanted me
to sign was unacceptable, so I ended up paying them myself monthly.
|
RObert E. Sult |
Operation Engineers 501
Dear
Sir or Madam:
Received you letter today, stating that the Payroll
authorization form I submitted was not acceptable. Not sure why, I’m sure the
Tropicana would of accepted it. Your Union Dues Authorization form is totally
unacceptable, there is no way I can sign something like that.
The wording, irrevocable is not acceptable. That is the
reason I submitted my version.
Fact is, lets just say 3 or 4 months from now. I decide
The Union is not doing their part backing and ensuring everyone is hearing to
the contract, and I decide that I should resign, and if that were the case why
would I want to continue to pay union dues for the complete year.
As this is a right to work state, I have the option not
to join – not to pay union dues and or resign from a union at anytime. I reserve my rights to do so. My Payroll
authorization was just as legal as yours. And I would not think the
So, how we both understand that the Union Dues
Authorization forms are not acceptable. Is there a problem in self-paying the
Union dues each Month?
If Self-paying is not a problem, Please let me know
My Home Number is xxx-xxxx My Cell number is xxx-xxxx
If self-paying Union Dues is not a problem, then I have
no problem in joining the
Thank you
Sincerely,
Robert
E. Sult
2nd Problem
There was a big mix-up on the change over of Insurance.
Where many people wanted to stay with the Companies insurance, they decided to
go with the
3rd
Problem
The Union failed to keep all union members and non-union
members informed about
any & all union
meeting, both here in Vegas & in LA
4th Problem
The members deserved better representation during a grievance; Union Rep should have been prepared
with the contract & the facts of the case.
Should not have been bad mouthing the shop Steward and other
members of the union. Should not get side tracked talking about other issues and motorcycles etc.
5th Problem
|
The |
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Classifications/Wage
Range |
At Signing |
1st Anniversary |
2nd
Anniversary |
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Slot
Technician |
3% |
3% |
$21.00 |
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|
Slot-
Bench Technician |
3% |
3% |
$23.00 |
|||
|
Lead Slot
Technician |
3% |
3% |
$25.00 |
|||
|
Slot |
Technician Apprentices First six (6) months Second six (6) months Third six (6) months Fourth six (6) months Fifth six (6) months Sixth six (6) months Seventh six (6) months Eighth six (6) months |
65% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 70% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 75% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 80% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 85% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 90% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 95% of Slot Technician rate ($21.00) 100% of Slot Technician rate
($21.00) |
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Remember where I said talk to the Members and ask “Do they send correct information to the members
& the company?”
We would have
to Say NO
Jan
2003 – The Union Member and the company was informed that Feb 1st
the Apprentice slot tech will be at 95% of Journeyman Slot Techs pay.
It was a mistake; he should have been at 90%.
Since they cannot do their job correctly, they have the
Apprentice Tech so happy, and the other Slot techs so angry.
They corrected the Problem. But it was only for 6 months.
Aug of 2003 the Apprentice slot Tech was at 95% of the
Journeyman slot Tech Pay and He is making more money then 9 Journeyman slot
techs.
Well you would think that the
“The 501 will never get things correct”
As of Feb 1st the Apprentice will be at 100%
(Now he is a Journeyman slot Tech) Where I went to school, I learned math. And to me 100% of $21 an
hour would be $21.00 an hour.
This is the Letter they sent him and the Company
The Union
Math – 100% of $21 is $21.71
The
They will
send another (correction letter), but why do they have to make the same mistake
twice?
6th Problem –
As you can see form above the
7th Problem
I resigned from the
The increase was not the problem; the
problem was the amount (200%)
When the
So by the end of 2003 there was another increase in the health & welfare insurance making it a
total of 400% in a year’s time.
That 2nd increase hit the
Union members just before Christmas. You could say that was our Christmas gift
from the
Right after they took that money out
of our paychecks the
Union members received the letter shown below in the mail.
What more can the Union give us for Christmas?
Yes, I voiced my opinion of the new increased, and
YES I wanted the local newspapers and TV to pick up the story (400% increase in
a years time).
Yes I was going to have a signature list and file with the
NLRB to have them voted out. (Could not do that till Jan 2 ~
Had 4 People
ready to vote them out, Had 4 people that was committed on keeping the Union, 3
other People I had no ideal how they would vote but I’m almost sure they would
of voted to keep the Union.
I was hoping
on some
I (Non-union
member) voicing my own opinion might of bluffed and said that it was a 95%
chance that they would get voted out.
(I
guess I should start playing Poker)
What makes it so bad, they (The Union
Local 501) never even checked (asked) the
Union members if they wanted the union to
continue represent them or not? They must have been upset with me a
non-union member voicing and making my
own opinion clear that I do not like getting ripped off.
Faxing and E-mail or both at lease
once a week.
Every thing I sent to Local News, I was faxing a Copy to
the
I
have made my own opinion and objection to being ripped off very clear.
The
I find it strange that they could just leave like that, leaving with union member’s dues & retirement
money. Leaving them high & dry with out even asking them what they
thought.
Also, it was very unprofessional of Mr. James McLaughlin,
to use my name in his letter to the Union Members. He tried to paint a target
on my back.
Well, he did. 50 years ago, I might have been killed.
I
did not see the humor in this, but I guess it’s better then what the
In Reference to Mr. James Mclaughlin letter to the Slot
Tech (Union Members), dated
He knows I was not the spokesman, He
also knows that as I'm a non-union member I have no voice in the union. Except during a desertification vote.
I truly believe they were afraid that the local News would
publish it or report the 400% increase, if it went to a decertification vote.
Then the Truth would come out on how they are ripping off the members & non-union members working under the
contract.
At no time I stated that I was a
spokesman; everything I have said & or
written has been my own opinion and objection to being ripped off, in a years
time we have a total of 400% increase in
the health & Welfare insurance.
Mr. James Mclughlin apparently
doesn't understand that the insane increase in
the health & welfare has been the major problem, and or just don't care as
many union members say, "what can they do except to pay it."
They did have someone working on the Problem, the First
part of December
|
RE; Dear Operating Engineer Shop Steward: Recently at the District Four
Meeting, held on It was
determined that the Committee will be made up of Shop Stewards that
work under contracts that provide our
Union Health and Welfare Coverage. You are therefore requested, and encouraged to participate on the Committee.
If it is not possible for you to participate yourself, the Committee is open
to other Union Members from your bargaining unit participating in your
absence. The initial
Committee meeting is scheduled to be held at the Union Hall, on
Wednesday, December 10. 2003. at If you intend to serve on the
Committee, and attend the initial meeting
please notify the Union Hall at I look forward to seeing you at the meeting |
Why are the members paying Union
Dues? The
In their Newsletter
|
We have certainly seen the growing problems with health
coverage, and this is affecting our membership as well. But one thing I am
extremely troubled with is the growing number of our working members who are
willing to trade their health coverage for that of the company’s plan. What they forget about is that by doing so we would
sacrifice our retiree’s health and welfare Let’s not forget the people who
fought for these benefits that each of us. Let’s not forget the people who
fought for these benefits that each of us enjoy. These are the people who
walked the picket lines, day and night, and sacrificed everything. I find it
hard to believe that any one of us could or would turn our back on them. This is the time that we must
stand together and remain strong. |
I can understand what he was saying about the
retiree’s health and welfare, but what is right about 400% increase in a years
time?
If the
Gary was our Business
Rep - if that what you call, what he did to us.......
This is what he did not tell everyone.
|
James Mc Laughlin |
Business Mgr |
$ 118,843 |
$ 18,838 |
$ 137,681 |
|
Donald Mear |
President |
$ 88,340 |
$ 15,616 |
$ 103,956 |
|
Pat Williams |
Vice President |
$ 0 |
$ 825 |
$ 825 |
|
Paul Nunez |
Treasurer |
$ 0 |
$ 600 |
$ 600 |
|
Sam Cochran |
Trustee |
$ 2,747 |
$ 970 |
$ 3,717 |
|
Dennis Lundy |
Trustee |
$ 0 |
$ 1,354 |
$ 1,354 |
|
Brian Kilbane |
Trustee |
$ 3,484 |
$ 825 |
$ 4,309 |
|
John Bare |
Auditor |
$ 2,312 |
$ 750 |
$ 3,062 |
|
Bryan Cortez |
Auditor |
$ 0 |
$ 750 |
$ 750 |
|
Thomas Murphy |
Financial Sec |
$ 0 |
$ 825 |
$ 825 |
|
James Shipman |
District Rep |
$ 0 |
$ 0 |
$ 0 |
|
Pat Murphy |
District Rep |
$ 0 |
$ 675 |
$ 675 |
|
Dennis Pung |
District Rep |
$ 0 |
$ 0 |
$ 0 |
|
Jess Atkinson |
District Rep |
$ 2,021 |
$ 825 |
$ 2,846 |
|
Steve Crosson |
Executive
Board |
$ 0 |
$ 600 |
$ 600 |
|
Tom Stricklin |
Executive
Board |
$ 0 |
$ 675 |
$ 675 |
|
Randy Pearson |
Conductor |