Last week, we had our first union contract negotiating session with a mediator from the Federal Mediation & Conciliary Service (FMCS) present. Both sides agreed to request mediation, so that we could try to find some common ground and make progress towards an agreement despite ongoing mistrust and miscommunication.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the productive session that we were hoping for. We came with comprehensive non-economic counters and tentative agreements on some significant proposals (such as Labor/Management Committees, samples policies, and non-discrimination policies), but we didn’t even get a chance to present these to management. Mfused left the table after not receiving a redline counter to their management rights’ proposal. We’re disappointed, but hopeful that we can actually move forward at our next session with mediation on September 19.

Keep an eye out next week for upcoming action planning.

HOURS CUT FOR PRODUCTION

As we all know, Mfused management has been sending Production workers home early without pay or asking us not to come in on extremely short notice. At the start of our session, we asked for more information so

that we could try to get a clearer picture of why these changes in hours and workload are happening, if these changes are temporary or not, and what we can expect staffing levels and scheduled hours to look like in the future.

Management told us that supply chain issues, industry decline, and other uncontrollable circumstances led to work declining this summer, even though the summer typically sees an increase. We were told to expect work to decline again this winter, as production is historically slower at the end of the year. What we know is that Mfused has reduced the size of Production by declining to fill positions after workers have left, increased the Production workload for the workers remaining, stockpiled inventory, and then cut scheduled hours without bringing these changes to the negotiations or giving us enough time and information to plan for our financial security. We have filed Unfair Labor Practice charges to address this.

Everyone who has had their hours reduced should apply for partial unemployment benefits as soon as possible at: https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment.

Please reach out to one of us on the bargaining team or our Union Rep, Chris Arellano at 206-436-6526, if you have any problems when applying or questions about the process. We are here to support each other.