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 or Steward be present at this meeting. Until my Representative arrives, I choose not to participate in this discussion
The results are in - from the first ever CWA Local 7250 Straw Poll on a U.S. Presidential Election!
Results
CWA 7250 members from AT&T, Activision, DirecTV, Sassafras, and CWA Staff registered there response to the question "WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE UNIONS SUPPORT IN THE 2024 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?" with the following results:
63%Kamala Harris/Tim Walz (Democratic Party)
15% Donald Trump/JD Vance (Republican Party)
14%None of the Above
(Unions Should Build an Independent, Militant Movement Against & Outside of the Political System)
3%No Preference
1% Jill Stein (Green Party Write-In)
1%Jesus is My Lord (Write-In)
While not as many of our members participated as we would have liked (just over 15% in a short window), we believe this is a meaningful sample of our Local membership's preferences. We were also not able to host a Town-Hall Zoom, as we had originally planned, due to scheduling conflicts of members willing to present for their preferences
The Local's Executive Board discussed the results and unanimously voted not to endorse any candidate, but instead to inform the CWA Minnesota State Council's political coordinator of the results, and allow the State Council to recruit volunteers from CWA 7250's membership for the Fall Campaign.
Any Local member that is interested in participating in campaigns for the national union's endorsed candidates can contact the CWA MN State Council here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
No CWA Local 7250 funds from dues will be used for electoral campaigns.
(Small d) democratic Process for the Membership
We believe our modest efforts at conducting a member-driven democratic decision-making process for choosing which candidates the union should (or shouldn't) support can serve as a positive counterexample to a process where only the highest leaders in the union make a decision. We believe that decision-making in the Union at the Local, State, District, and International levels should be bottom-up - not top-down.
We plan to share our example with State, District, Sector,and International leadership - and encourage the Union to welcome and encourage democratic debate and decision-making.
Thank You!
Thanks to all who participated - we appreciate everyone's contribution to this effort. Please get in touch if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas you'd like to share.
Well, it seems the company has discovered the fine art of reading our bargaining reports spending as much time at the table on reviewing bargaining reports as was spent talking about proposals. It's nice to know they’ve got time for some light reading, but maybe they could take a break from being our biggest fans and invest more time focusing on and responding to our biggest issues. If only their dedication to reading was matched by a dedication to fairness and progress. But hey, at least we know we have an audience!
In the latest twist of our ongoing saga, it appears the company’s hired promoters can't even get our name right. While customers call us rose, promoters call us grove - maybe they think we’re selling trees now, who knows? The continual misnaming is emblematic of the carelessness and lack of attention to detail that has plagued these negotiations.
Despite the ongoing identity crisis, our team remains laser-focused on securing a contract that reflects who we really are: Rove Pest Control, not Grove, not Glove, not "Whatever-Else-They-Make-Up-Next" Pest Control.
Respectfully Submitted, CWA 7250 Bargaining team at Rove Co-Chairs: Bruce Nielsen & Shari Wojtowicz Members: Greg Bute, Hector Capote Alternate: Zach Sager
In this latest round of negotiations, the company continues to astound with their creative approach to the truth. Every blatant inconsistency in their proposals can conveniently be chalked up to "typos" We’re told to disregard these “minor” errors, but funny how these “typos” seem to benefit them and not us.
We’ve spent more time fixing "typos" than negotiating real terms. At this point, we’re starting to wonder if we need a grammar teacher at the table instead of legal counsel. Despite the company’s creative writing, we remain focused on holding them accountable for every word—whether it's a so-called typo or another attempt to sugarcoat a blatant lie.
As if the situation couldn’t get more absurd, they’re demanding that anyone working from home must have homeowner’s insurance. Yes, because clearly, the real risk of remote work is your office spontaneously combusting while you’re answering pest concerns. They seem to believe that in the comfort of our homes, we’re running black-market businesses or hosting parties during lunch breaks. The idea that we need insurance for simply sitting at our home computer is just another bureaucratic hoop they want us to jump through.
Respectfully Submitted, CWA 7250 Bargaining team at Rove Co-Chairs: Bruce Nielsen & Shari Wojtowicz Members: Greg Bute, Hector Capote Alternate: Zach Sager
We have now had four bargaining sessions with Florida-based ADT Labor Relations Director James Nixdorf. As we described in our previous report we have already come to a tentative agreement on the bulk of a three-year contract. This contract will bring many improvements including:
Overtime pay (time and a half) after 8 hours a day as well as after 40 hours a week
Paid Holidays and Floating Holidays
Paid and Excused Sick Time (Separate from Vacation Time) - based on the new MN ESST law language
Seniority Protections and Severance Pay
A Grievance and Arbitration Process
The Union Bargaining Team also discovered a company error in the Spring merit-pay that negatively-impacted two employees. Two workers did not receive the full Merit raise that the company had offered and the Union approved. We brought this to Nixdorf's attention immediately, and today he confirmed the error and will be rectifying it soon. (The two techs have been contacted by the Union).
This leaves only the Wage Schedule minimums to bargain. These discussions have been difficult. The company values maximum flexibility with their alternative compensation programs and so have little interest in negotiating raises to the minimum pay rates.
At times the bargaining has been extremely frustrating. Mr. Nixdorf is in denial about the high turn-over among ADT Techs, and has been unwilling to admit that wages are a key issue in that turn-over. While the company has now moved their numbers up about 6% from their original offer - they are still far from meeting the Union's proposals.
In order to get what we need and deserve, we need to get ADT workers more involved in showing our UNITY & DETERMINATION. The company needs to understand that we are serious about getting a strong deal.
Please join us at the ADT warehouse parking lot on Tuesday morning August 13th at 7:00am to get information, get some union gear, and take a unity photo together.
And on Wednesday morning, August 14th please join your Steward Jesse Selin sending a message to ADT management at the company breakfast.
# # # # #
The agreement for the Twin Cities, when ready, will not be final until YOU and your co-workers vote to approve it.
In order to vote on the contract (and other union decisions) please sign-up as a member today:
For communication with the CWA 7250 Bargaining Team, contact:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Solidarity,
CWA 7250 ADT Bargaining Committee
CWA 7250 ADT Bargaining Committee:
Tristia Melzer, ADT Tech (Co-Chair)
Marvin Wells, CWA District 7 Representative (Co-Chair)
