Pomona Workers for Justice!

Karen Sisson and the Pomona College Community,
We were very disappointed to read the proposal the administration made in response to our repeated offers to negotiate Labor Peace.  While we have already offered a serious concession regarding the voting process, we were sad to discover the administration made no significant moves of its own.  From the beginning, the workers have repeatedly made clear that a National Labor Relations Board election was not a fair or democratic process, and was unacceptable.  Still, the administration continues to insist on this flawed process, while also ignoring our central demand for neutrality during the process of voting.

What is more troubling, while the administration made no significant steps towards reaching a fair process agreement, this proposal actually tries to take away the workers rights to speak with students and the college community or to take other actions to protect themselves during this process, while permitting management to use their full power to campaign against the union.  The administration’s proposal also aims to divide us by excluding coordinators and ‘on-call’ workers.  This proposal brings us no closer to reaching agreement, indeed it offers less protection than is already available under existing labor law.

The workers have chosen a negotiations committee and elected representatives for the purpose of negotiating a labor peace agreement with the College.  If the administration is serious about making movement towards an agreement, we expect that the College will contact one of the worker representatives to arrange a meeting to hear the details of our proposal and begin to formally negotiate an agreement.  If the administration does not wish to engage in formal negotiations, its claims to wish to resolve this conflict begins to lose significance.

Sincerely,
Workers for Justice/ Trabajadores por Justicia

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Karen Sisson y la Comunidad de Pomona College,

Estuvimos muy decepcionados al leer la propuesta que hizo la administración respondiendo nuestras repetidas ofertas para negociar una Paz Laboral. Ya que habíamos ofrecido significantes concesiones con respeto al proceso de votación, estuvimos tristes al ver que la administración no había hecho ningunos pasos significantes. Desde el comienzo, los trabajadores han repetidamente hecho claro que una elección del “National Labor Relations Board” no es un proceso justo o democrático, y que era inaceptable. Aún así, la administración continúa insistiendo en este proceso de votación defectuoso, e inclusive también ignorando nuestra demanda clave, neutralidad durante el proceso de votación.

Lo que es más preocupante, es que la administración no hizo ning unos pasos significantes hacia un acuerdo de proceso justo. La propuesta de la administración trata de quitarles a los trabajadores el derecho de hablar con los estudiantes y la comunidad universitaria o de tomar otras acciones para protegerse durante éste proceso, y permite que la administración use todo su poder para hacer una campaña anti-sindicato. Ésta propuesta también intenta separarnos entre los trabajadores, excluyendo a los coordinadores y trabajadores ‘on call’. Esto no nos acerca a un acuerdo, e inclusive ofrece menos protecciones de las que ya son ofrecidas en las leyes laborales actuales.

Los trabajadores han elegido un comité de negociación y representantes de los trabajadores para negociar un acuerdo de paz laboral con Pomona College. Si la administración tiene realmente serias intenciones de llegar a un acuerdo esperamos que la Universidad se ponga en contacto con uno de los representantes de los trabajadores para fijar fecha de una reunión para escuchar los detalles de nuestra propuesta y para empezar a formalmente negociar un acuerdo. Si la administración no desea entablar negociaciones directas, pierde credibilidad su supuesto deseo de resolver este conflicto.

Sinceramente,

Workers for Justice/ Trabajadores por Justicia

On June 5th a delegation of four workers went to the Alumni Board to speak to them about their struggle and urge them to support labor peace.  Below is the letter that Workers for Justice/ Trabajaores por Justicia sent to the Board on June 18th thanking them.

Dear Alumni Board Members,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to come speak to the Alumni Board last Saturday morning. Because we had limited time on Saturday, we wanted to take this opportunity to summarize the reasons why we have chosen to pursue a Labor Peace agreement with Pomona College.

We hope to avoid a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process because the NLRB process does not provide a free, fair or democratic means for workers to choose whether or not to form a union.  Under the NLRB employers often campaign against the union and their power to hire and fire gives them undue influence over employees and creates a climate of fear.  Employers often use captive audience meetings, threats and discipline against workers engaged in Union organizing drives.  Unfortunately many employers have learned it pays to violate the NLRA: it can take two to six years to get a judgment and the remedies are very weak.  Workers often choose to respond to employer campaigns with picketing, boycotts, and strikes which disrupt the normal operations of the business.  The NLRB process can result in a long and bitter labor dispute, which no one wants to see at Pomona College.

Instead we believe that the Pomona College administration can and should agree to Labor Peace.  Under Labor Peace, Workers for Justice would agree not to engage in picketing, boycotts or strikes for the duration of the agreement.  Durig this time, the Administration would agree to remain neutral, allowing us to make the decision for ourselves whether or not to form a union.  The agreement would be enforced through expedited, binding arbitration by a neutral third party.  Labor Peace agreements have been adopted around the country where parties wish to avoid prolonged labor disputes, and have become official policy in major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.

We believe Labor Peace is important here at Pomona College.  We hope to resolve our problems within the Pomona College family, forming an independent union which will open lines of communication, level the playing field, and allow us to more fully join the College community.    We want a voice in the community because we want to be part of the decisions that affect our work and our lives.  By following this path, we hope that we will be able to be part of the solution to the challenges that we face at Pomona College.  Our independent labor organization, Workers for Justice/ Trabajadores por Justicia, is certified with the Department of Labor and ready to negotiate and sign a labor peace agreement with Pomona College that benefits all parties.

Again, thank you for your time last week, and we hope to continue speaking with you as this process develops.  We know that we share with you the commitment to Pomona College as a forward-thinking community that values all of its members, and we hope that the College can stay true to its values by negotiating a labor peace agreement with us. As of today we have not received a response from the college; we hope that we will hear from the College soon and will be able to meet and to negotiate in good faith with them.

Sincerely,

Workers for Justice/ Trabajadores por Justicia