Union Albatross

[T or C]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Mexico

I've been working for an entity for just over a year. The pay is lousy to start, and to make matters worse about 7 years ago someone began Union Negotiations, but so far as anyone can tell the Contract was never finalized or "approved" by the membership. So many of the originators are now either management or gone, so its very difficult to get any information. The entity will not increase pay because it states that while under union negotiation they are prohibited from doing so. There has been zero representation from the "union" on any issue. So, first, are we considered Union for the purposes of the entity which refuses to raise pay beyond minimum wage at this point? If so, how do we get rid of this "union" and negotiations when nothing has been done for over 5 years? Oh yes, and to make matters more complex, there are three (3) entities under the same 'umbrella', and according to some it's all or no one can get out of this maze. Is that also true?
Thanks for any help you can offer us here. I'm writing on behalf of over 70 very unhappy and underpaid people.

 

[justalayman]

so, has there been a union representation vote to vote a union in or not? You cannot have contract negotiations unless there is a union to negotiate for you. Since you state there have been contract negotiations, I would have to presume you do have a union. If so, contact the union president and ask him the status of the negotiations.

 

[T or C]

That's the tricky part. All but one of the Union Board is gone or now in management. There is only one left, and that person seems completely clueless about what happened and apparently has no paperwork on any status. Everyone complains about this mess, but as often is the case, no one is willing do something one way or the other. I will ask around again and see what I can find. Thanks for the help. Love your tag line!

 

[justalayman]

Ok, next step. A union, that an individual deals with, is a local. There are union offices above the local offices. Depending on the union, there could be only one (the national office) or I have seen as many as 3 above the local ( district, regional, national)

Given the confusion at the local level, I would go to the next level and ask.