Yesterday I attended the 6:30 PM mass membership meeting at our union hall. Since we reached the required threshold of 25 members ("quorum") we could hold the meeting. I promote our meetings online, but the most effective way I've found is texting your coworkers personally. 4 of my friends showed up and without them, the meeting might've been canceled. 27 members were present initially and a few more came in later.
After hearing summaries of previous meetings, a member motioned to vote on grievances first. Normally there are new officer reports immediately read after. This motion was voted through.
There were a lot of discharges cases this month.
The discussion was civil and productive. However, it can be difficult to present your case to the membership after being discharged. You should expect to repeat yourself and it's essential that you remain professional. Some members seem unprepared for this and it hurts their presentation. One member stated that she was not comfortable with public speaking and followed a prepared statement. This was one of the few grievances that got overturned by the membership and sent to arbitration.
In June, Assistant Secretary Treasurer Cassie Collins offered a microphone to our speakers and it was used again this month. It helped a LOT since some members talk quietly. I think having a second microphone for members asking questions would also be useful.
I also think our union should invest in a projector. This would help voting members understand the timelines of certain charges and also view evidence that management used in the write up or discharge. (photos, videos etc.) The grievance chairs could spend more time explaining the nuance of the write up instead of focusing on the basic details like dates.
President Pennie McCoach told us that she would be speaking at the CTA board meeting tomorrow. She is a strong advocate for our own dedicated police force and her comment will be concern violence against transit workers. You can view the recording here.
She also mentioned that there is an upcoming meeting this week with management concerning the new "Quality of Life" program in our new 2027 contract. This program is meant to address the high turnover rate. There was some recent Facebook discussions about bringing back "Block Runs" for rail operators. This is basically working 4 days a week with 10 hour shifts. The response was positive online and I would expect this to be brought up in the meeting.
Also, since there has been limited attendance at our contract proposal meetings, there will now be a general Zoom meeting September 12th. An exact time has not been determined.
During this meeting we also had an organization pitch some insurance benefits.
Our next mass membership meeting will be held at September 12th at 10 AM. If you're interested in getting reminders, join this facebook messenger group I made.
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