COLLECTIVE BARGAINING & STRIKES

As you know, Geneseo Communications, Inc. (Company) has scheduled an election with the CWA Union on May 7, 2024, between 8am-9am. Between now and the election, the Union will continue with their false promises of higher wages and benefits.


I know you are smart enough to know this promise of higher wages is a lie. Again, ask the Union to sign a written guarantee they can get these higher wages and benefits. I am positive they will not sign the guarantee. In fact, according to the company UnionFacts.com in Washington DC, approximately 111 bargaining units in the US decertified the Union since they could not get higher wages and benefits for their employees.



However, our Company would like you to consider the following facts regarding what the Union can really do for you during negotiations or a strike:

  1. If the Union were to win the election by a majority vote, all that it entitles the Union to is the ability to negotiate with our Company. Our only obligation is to bargain in good faith with the Union.
  2. At the bargaining table, the only power the Union has is to ask our Company for the Union’s demands. The Union cannot force us to accept any proposal or make any concession which we cannot afford or which is not good for our business.
  3. If the Union tells you that what you have now is guaranteed, they are not telling you the truth. As Federal Law has stated, you can lose wages as well as gain them in collective bargaining. Also, you can end up exactly where you are. The United States Government and the National Labor Relations Board do not guarantee employees that bargaining must start (or end) at where you are currently in wages or other conditions of employment. However, the Employer must maintain status quo while negotiations are ongoing. However, in the end the deal could be better, the same, or worse.
  4. Ask the Union how they can force our Company to pay more money or provide more benefits if we can’t afford them or are unable to pay due to our competition.
  5. Negotiations could take weeks, months, or years to complete. During this time, the Company is generally required to maintain the status quo as it pertains to existing terms and conditions of employment.
  6. If you were to choose the Union as your representative, you generally would no longer have the right to individually bargain for your own wages, benefits, or working conditions with our Company. The Union would govern your future with regard to wages and benefits, as well as most grievances.
  7. Ask the Union, if our Company can possibly hire permanent strike replacement workers if an economic strike is called by the Union.
  8. Ask the Union if your pay and benefits stop and you will not be able to receive unemployment insurance during a possible strike.

Of course, strikes are not inevitable. If the Union were to win, we would bargain in good faith. However, remember, when it comes to collective bargaining and strikes, generally the only thing that will remain the same are the high Union salaries of the union international officers of between $180,377-$333,376, of that you will be paying for with your monthly dues of $703 per year (union facts CWA local 4250) to the Union. Please don't fall for the Union's pressure tactics and false promises.


Our Company does not think we need a Union here because we have been fair to our employees in the past and will continue to be fair to the employees in the future.


The law says bargaining is a potentially risky process. When bargaining is done and a contract is agreed to, you could get more, the same or less than you had before bargaining began.

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