By: Alex Ortiz

I frequently receive calls from members who have been suspended or terminated who do not know if a grievance was written for them. Your committeeperson is your first line of defense if you are ever disciplined. Get your first-line Union rep’s phone number so that you can call them if you are ever suspended or fired.

Unfortunately, in many of these instances, members did not know they had the right to request Union representation. Your right, as a dues-paying member, is to have Union representation during investigatory interviews with management, where you reasonably believe you could be disciplined. This right is commonly referred to as your Weingarten Rights. Management does not have to inform you of this when they ask to talk to you or direct you to a meeting.

If you are directed to a meeting with management, your response should be…
“If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my Union representative, officer or steward be present at the meeting. Without representation, I choose not to answer any questions.”

We have been printing this notice on the back of our Local 659 membership cards and have a link on our website to a printable version as well. Keep your card in your wallet so you can read from it if you need to.

If you don’t have a Union card, you can request one here at the Union Hall.

There will be another election for UAW International officers next year, as well as a Constitutional Convention. Our Local is tasked with updating all of the membership information to ensure everyone receives a ballot in the mail. If you received this Searchlight, we obviously have your information; However, if you know of someone who doesn’t get the paper, let them know they need to update their address at the Local if they want to receive the ballot!

As I am writing this report, General Dynamics Electric Boat (UAW Local 571) has reached a tentative agreement and will not be striking at midnight on May 18th. I watched the announcement on the UAW International account on Instagram. Congratulations to them and hopefully the contract is something that their Local membership will approve of. It was stressed that the membership is the highest authority in the UAW and their membership will make the decision on the agreement.

We live in a time where information can be delivered to us in an instant with handheld devices. Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube are just a few examples of instantaneous information. We use our Local 659 Facebook page to post information regularly and also post it on our web page.

I know that not everyone uses social media or checks our updated pages, but these are valuable tools, just like the UAW boards in the plant. In an effort to reach more of you, the membership, we are looking into implementing a text messaging service to communicate directly with the membership. The service would only be something that you opt into, so only those who wish to receive text messages will receive them.

The Joint Council meetings for June, July and August have been suspended. We will see you back in September when our meetings will resume, unless there is an urgent need to meet.

Remember to keep checking your in-plant Union Boards, our UAW Local 659 Facebook page and website for updated information-and-attend your monthly Unit meetings!