CWA 1180 - News

Organizing matters
by Linda Jenkins
January 2003

Local 1180 has filed petitions at the Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) to gain the right to represent over 2,500 city employees in five titles that are currently non-represented. Two of these titles, Administrative Manager and Coordinating Manager, have been in existence for many years. The city recently created the other three titles, Administrative Job Opportunity Specialist, Associate Job Opportunity Specialist and Call Center Representative. The workers in all these titles do similar work or basically the same work as the work being done by our members. So it makes a great deal of sense for us to organize them and to bring the workers in these titles into1180.

The city's consolidation of several titles represented by different unions (including our Principal Administrative Associate title) into new titles created the Associate Job Opportunity Specialist and Call Center Representative titles. A number of 1180 members have been reclassified to these new titles and want to remain in our union and retain their current rights and benefits. We have to win representation for these new titles in order to keep these members. The workers in the titles Administrative Manager, Coordinating Manager and Administrative Job Opportunity Specialist are currently considered managerial and are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Therefore they do not enjoy the same rights and benefits that 1180 members have. With representation they will gain the right to bargaining over wages and working conditions, the security of union protection and the support of the entire 1180 family.

1180 members also gain when we organize and bring other workers into the union. Over the years the city's efforts to cut the workforce have reduced our numbers. At one time we had over 10,000 members. There are more tough times coming and we need to build a bigger and stronger union to meet the challenges of those times. The more 1180 members we have at the worksites the more of an impact we can make. Unless we organize we will become weaker and less able to protect our members. Bringing in new members means bringing in new strength and energy, new ideas and new leaders. So each of us has a stake in the outcome of this organizing effort and each of us can play a role to help us succeed.

Right now the most important thing that you can do is to talk to your co-workers in these titles about our union. Let them know about our contract protections, wages and benefits. Share with them the information about our petitions for representation from this website and the Communique. Listen to their concerns and answer their questions about 1180. Contact your shop steward, staff rep or myself with any questions you can't answer. The process at OCB is a long one and we want to keep everyone as informed as possible throughout that process.

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