NFORMERI Local 1999, Unit 09

A Quarterly Newsletter

Fall 2009 November 18, 2009 Volume 3 Issue 3

Survey ResultsThe results are in from the 2010

contract surveys. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill them out and return them. These surveys will help guide your negotiating committee in preparing proposals for the bargaining table.

For the question What issues do you want the Union to focus on in nego-tiations, most of you responded that the Pension was a top priority fol-

lowed closely by Health Insurance (See chart below). The same was true for the top 3 issues you believe should be addressed in negotiations (See chart on page 3).

As for the preference on across the board or percentage raises the re-sults were close with more people preferring across the board raises (See chart on page 3).

The pension was a heavy favorite over the 401K in which was more important to the survey takers (See chart on page 4).

When it came to whether or not you felt we needed more personal days or not. A majority indicated that more personal days were needed (See chart on page 4).

See Survey, Page 5.

2 Fall 2009

INFORMER

Kelly Ray Hugunin, Editor

USW Local 1999 218 South Addison Street

Indianapolis, Indiana 46222

Phone: 639-1479Fax: 639-1138

E-Mail: local1999usw@att.net

The Local 1999, Unit 09 Informer is an official publica-

tion of the United Steelworkers, Local 1999, AFL-CIO, CLC.

Submissions from members are always welcome.

To Submit: Mail to: Po Box 79 Clayton, Indiana 46118 Phone: 317-539-4698 Email: hugunin@tds.net

Local 1999, Unit 09

AFL-CIO-CLC

Union USW Label 1 9 9 9

Your Union Leadership

Dist. 7 Director:Jim Robinson

Sub-Dist. 3 Director:

Randy McKay

Int. Staff Representative:James Adcock

District 7, Sub-District 3

President:Chuck Jones

Vice President:Linda Bennington

Local Union Rep.:Bruce Reed

Financial Secretary:

Allen Johnson

Recording Secretary:

Peggy S. Scotten

Treasurer:Anna Vickie Burrus

Trustee:Maurie Wilkerson

Trustee:Bennie Porter

Trustee:George Gann

Inside Guard:Peggy Wilson

Outside Guard:Shelly Barber Carr

Guide:Mike Hensley

Local 1999

Unit President:Kelly Ray Hugunin

Unit Vice President:Andy Engle

Grievance Committee:

Kelly Ray HuguninAndy Engle

Mike McDonald Derrick MorrisStan Perkins

Stewards:Jason Benge

Selmon BrownEdwin JohnsonCurtis Rainey

Safety Committee:Kelly Ray Hugunin

Selmon BrownEdwin JohnsonDerrick MorrisLeroy Robinson

Civil Rights Committee:

Kelly Ray HuguninJeff BarronAndy EngleStan Perkins

Legislative Committee:

Kelly Ray HuguninAndy Engle

Unit 09

President:Leo Gerard

Secretary Treasurer:Stan Johnson

Vice President (Administration):

Thomas M. Conway

Vice President (Human Affairs):

Fred Redmond

Vice President at Large:

Carol Landry

Vice President:Jon Greenen

Vice President:Gary Beevers

International

3Informer

4 Fall 2009

5Informer

Survey, From Page 1.

When asked how many paid sick days we should have most respond-ed 5 days. 3 days came in second and 10 days was third followed closely by 6 days (See chart above).

The negotiating committee will meet on Dec. 4. to begin drafting a package of proposals for the new contract. The committee will review the results of the survey and review the grievances over the past three years to determine what we need to focus on.

The Union negotiating committee for the 2010 contract negotiations are: Kelly Ray Hugunin, Andy En-gle, Mike McDonald, Derrick Mor-ris, and Stan Perkins.

UNITED WE BARGAIN

DIVIDED WE BEG

6 Fall 2009

Administration Backs Paid Leave As Swine Flu Threat Opens Door For Law

By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff WriterWASHINGTON (PAI)--The Obama administration is openly endors-ing paid family and medical leave for workers -- even as the threat of swine flu outbreaks forcing workers to stay home, unpaid, for long peri-ods of time opens the door for the need for the new law.

Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Nov. 10 that “while much has been done to help prepare for a national health emergency like 2009 H1N1” -- the official name for swine flu -- “more is needed to help protect the economic security of working families who must choose between a pay check and their health and the health of their families.

“That is why the administration supports the Healthy Families Act and other proposals that advance workplace flexibility and protect the income and security of workers,” Harris stated.

The Healthy Families Act would build on current unpaid family leave, which many families can’t afford to take, said its key drafters and advocates, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Debra Ness of the National Partnership of Women and Families. DeLauro also advocated an emergency paid sick leave bill just to cover families hit with swine flu.

Paid sick leave would mandate that workers at firms that employ at least 15 people each get seven paid sick days per year to take care of them-

selves or family members. The problem with present, unpaid leave is that many workers can’t afford to take time off -- even if they’re sick -- DeLauro said. FMLA covers 60% of the workforce, as businesses with fewer than 50 workers are exempt.

“As such, right now 57 million Americans cannot take time off work when they are sick, or when they need to stay home to care for an ailing child or elderly relative. In fact, almost half of all private sector workers – and 79% of low-income workers – do not have a single paid day off,” the Connecticut congress-woman added.

“The numbers are particularly gall-ing in the food service industry: Only 15% of workers have paid sick days. Suffice to say, food service is not an industry where we want em-ployees showing up to work with contagious viral infections,” she deadpanned.

“All of these workers are forced to put their jobs on the line every time they take a day off. According to a 2008 study, one in six workers re-port they or a family member had been fired, suspended, punished or threatened with firing for taking time off due to personal illness or to care for a sick relative.”

The swine flu outbreak has only made the problem worse, testified Desiree Rosado, a special ed as-sistant in the Groton, Conn., school system. That’s not because the par-ents get sick; the kids do.

Rosado had to miss two weeks of work to take care of her three chil-dren, suffering from bronchitis or the flu, this fall.

“I get no sick pay, so my paycheck for that period was almost nothing. That caused tremendous hardship for my family. My husband and I live paycheck-to-paycheck right now. We have no choice…It’s a hard road. And it’s made immeasur-ably harder because whenever we get sick or our children get sick, we have to decide whether to stay home without pay, or to disregard doctor’s orders and risk getting sicker and infecting others by going to work or school.”

Dozens of families in her school faced the same choices, Rosado said.

Putting families through such a fi-nancial wringer -- due to swine flu or any other illness -- is wrong, and uneconomic, DeLauro and Ness testified. DeLauro even pointed out that sick workers forced to show up on the job because otherwise they wouldn’t get paid are less-than-100% productive, and studies show a $180 billion loss from that.

Business, represented by the Society for Human Resources Management, opposed paid sick leave. Its witness said most workers have paid leave -- vacation.

DOL’s Harris agreed it’s time to stop putting families through fi-nancial turmoil. Workers, he said, “are covered and eligible for unpaid

7Informer

leave but only when the leave is for reasons that qualify pursuant to the strict FMLA standards.” Harris id not add that in the closing days of the anti-worker GOP Bush gov-ernment, DOL yielded to business lobbying and made taking unpaid FMLA leave even harder than be-fore.

“Other Federal laws and programs generally do not provide much as-

sistance to workers needing job security and income when they are sick or need to take time off to care for family members,” Harris contin-ued.

“Unemployment insurance does not cover workers who may lose their jobs and are not ‘able and available to work.’ During a pandemic, indi-viduals laid off because their work site is closed or because business

declined due to an outbreak would be eligible for regular UI as long as they are able to, available for, and actively seeking work. B u t UI does not cover individuals who are sick, are caring for someone who is sick, are caring for well chil-dren dismissed from school, or are otherwise not available and actively seeking work,” he concluded.

Press Associates, Inc. (PAI)

Chart source: Center for Economic and Policy Research

The chart above depicts countries with paid sick time. The light blue line measures paid sick days. This is what you use if you need to take three days off because you have a fever. The dark blue line is paid sick leave. This is what you use if you need to take three months off

because you have cancer.

8 Fall 2009