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N.M. Workers 'Exercise Rights' to Join Union
Exercise rights - meaning time to go to the gym or take a healthful walk, on the clock - mean more to workers than you might think.
After the New Mexico government took that benefit away from thousands of state workers, the New Mexico State Employee Alliance, SEA@CWA, figured that losing an hour-and-a-half per week of paid time to exercise was the equivalent of a 3.9 percent pay cut.
Letting state workers know that, via a website, phone calls and worksite visits, helped convince 211 workers at three state agencies to sign cards in a card check organizing drive, bringing representation to at least 379 union eligible workers at the state's Department of Cultural Affairs, Miners Colfax Medical Center and the Commission on the Status of Women. About 100 additional workers in the three units may become eligible for representation under a state Labor Board determination.
Meanwhile, CWA's organizing campaign - sparked by a new bargaining law for state workers - continues at agencies, boards and commissions across the state, where eligible workers are expected to choose representation through either card check campaigns or state-run elections.
"In all, we expect up to 5,000 workers to be represented by CWA," said Kevin Mulligan, District 7 Organizing Coordinator. "To date, over 1,000 have joined SEA@CWA."
CWA previously had represented several hundred state workers in six agencies in 1999, when former governor Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, allowed the state's collective bargaining law to "sunset." All belonged to Locals 7037 in Santa Fe and 7011 in Albuquerque.
Even without bargaining rights, "many of those members continued to pay dues and stuck around to help rebuild the union," Mulligan said.
CWA locals statewide campaigned to elect current Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, in 2002, in part because he pledged to sign a new bargaining rights law. He did, and it went into effect July 1. The state Labor Board is allowing card check recognition for previously organized units and is in the process of writing new organizing guidelines for other government entities.
Anticipating the new collective bargaining law, Locals 7011 and 7037 launched SEA@CWA in February, and they received the help of borrowed organizers from locals in Arizona, Utah and Colorado in building a statewide organizing committee of 100 workers.
Using their new website along with phone banking and worksite visits - the new law provides them access to worksites - they addressed workers' concerns, including underpayment of per diems and loss of benefits.
The campaign's emphasis now shifts to card check drives at the Departments of Health, with an estimated 1,100 workers, and Environment, with 350.
As for "exercise rights," CWA expects to prevail on the governor - who recently hired his own personal trainer - to restore the benefit, said Local 7037 President Ron Scott.
After the New Mexico government took that benefit away from thousands of state workers, the New Mexico State Employee Alliance, SEA@CWA, figured that losing an hour-and-a-half per week of paid time to exercise was the equivalent of a 3.9 percent pay cut.
Letting state workers know that, via a website, phone calls and worksite visits, helped convince 211 workers at three state agencies to sign cards in a card check organizing drive, bringing representation to at least 379 union eligible workers at the state's Department of Cultural Affairs, Miners Colfax Medical Center and the Commission on the Status of Women. About 100 additional workers in the three units may become eligible for representation under a state Labor Board determination.
Meanwhile, CWA's organizing campaign - sparked by a new bargaining law for state workers - continues at agencies, boards and commissions across the state, where eligible workers are expected to choose representation through either card check campaigns or state-run elections.
"In all, we expect up to 5,000 workers to be represented by CWA," said Kevin Mulligan, District 7 Organizing Coordinator. "To date, over 1,000 have joined SEA@CWA."
CWA previously had represented several hundred state workers in six agencies in 1999, when former governor Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, allowed the state's collective bargaining law to "sunset." All belonged to Locals 7037 in Santa Fe and 7011 in Albuquerque.
Even without bargaining rights, "many of those members continued to pay dues and stuck around to help rebuild the union," Mulligan said.
CWA locals statewide campaigned to elect current Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, in 2002, in part because he pledged to sign a new bargaining rights law. He did, and it went into effect July 1. The state Labor Board is allowing card check recognition for previously organized units and is in the process of writing new organizing guidelines for other government entities.
Anticipating the new collective bargaining law, Locals 7011 and 7037 launched SEA@CWA in February, and they received the help of borrowed organizers from locals in Arizona, Utah and Colorado in building a statewide organizing committee of 100 workers.
Using their new website along with phone banking and worksite visits - the new law provides them access to worksites - they addressed workers' concerns, including underpayment of per diems and loss of benefits.
The campaign's emphasis now shifts to card check drives at the Departments of Health, with an estimated 1,100 workers, and Environment, with 350.
As for "exercise rights," CWA expects to prevail on the governor - who recently hired his own personal trainer - to restore the benefit, said Local 7037 President Ron Scott.