It has come to our attention that with the various recent departures, voluntary and otherwise, management’s plan seems to be to shuffle the work onto those of us who are left. The Guild is, of course, concerned by the possibility of overwork. We raised the issue with the company before the changes were implemented. Now that people are starting to see some of the impact of the changes, we want to be able to lay out our concerns clearly to management and discuss possible remedies.

If your job has changed in the past two weeks, or you’ve been informed that your job will be changing, please contact Marie Lofranco or me to tell us exactly what you’re being asked/required to do, and whether anything is being withdrawn from your current work to make these additional responsibilities feasible. If you have been or are being directed to get things done without incurring (or claiming) any overtime, we need to know that as well. Finally, if you are expected to perform work that was formerly done by your supervisor, please let us know. If you have it handy, it would be useful for us to see the most recent job description that you’ve been provided with.

Having complete and detailed information makes it easier for us to advance your interests with management. It can also help take some of the pressure off individual employees to have their issues raised by union representatives.

PLEASE NOTE: you don’t have the right to refuse to perform work. A refusal can be viewed as insubordination and may result in disciplinary action or even dismissal, so don’t put your employment at risk. If you don’t feel you have the proper training to do the work in question, or if it’s something you’ve never been required to do before, you should point this out to your supervisor, but if you’re told to “do it or else”, or words to that effect, you should comply. You can indicate that you are doing the work under protest, demand written confirmation of the supervisor’s directive, and contact the union immediately.

Your CMG representatives are meeting frequently with management, and we’ll continue to meet as we try to iron out everyone’s concerns.

We appreciate your support and we’ll do our best to get through this. Hold on for the ride.

Rob VanSickle
ZML Branch President
CMG