Regional meeting workshops improved skills

<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-13182" style="margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px; border-width: 1px; border-color: black; border-style: solid;" title="Morr, Bonnie.2011" src="http://utu.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mor How Do I Make My Ex Want Me Back After I Broke Up With Her r-Bonnie.2011.jpg” alt=”” width=”150″ height=”150″ />By Bonnie Morr
Vice President – Bus Department

The UTU regional  meetings in Portland, Ore., and Memphis, Tenn., provided hands-on workshops – led by experts from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) — designed to improve skills of members and officers in pursing grievances where members’ rights have been violated.

Experts from the NLRB summarized and explained federal labor law, including the process for filing unfair labor practices complaints and governance of union representation elections under the National Labor Relations Act.

FMCS mediator Connie Weimer led workshops in the process of mediation and development of mediation skills – especially how to get to a “yes” and past a “no” at the bargaining table. Included was an interactive presentation on protecting the rights of the collective bargaining process and the importance of labor unions in the workplace.

A mock negotiating session was provided in Memphis by FMCS mediator Luther Bennet, with members in attendance playing the role of management. Needless to say, we were brutal as managers, which helped participants better understand the dynamics of negotiations.

One of the most well-attended sessions was led by attorney Steve Young and arbitrator Frank Quinn. A Power Point presentation is available that I will send to members via e-mail upon request. My e-mail address is at the top of this column.

The value of workshops at regional meetings cannot be overemphasized, and it is not too early to begin making plans to attend one of the 2013 regional meetings – in Boston, July 1-3, and Anaheim, Calif., July 29-31. Details and registration information will become available early in 2013.

As Election Day approaches, it is important for members and their families to be registered to vote and to vote. At the UTU home page at www.utu.org that is a box titled, Are You Registered? Clicking on that box takes you to an interactive page where you and family members can verify that your voter registration is current. If it isn’t, you can register to vote at that site. You may use that site to register to vote via absentee ballot.

The October issue of the UTU News will contain a listing of congressional candidates, by state, identified as labor friendly.

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