Frontier Bargaining Report #58

10/03/2022

Sisters and Brothers,

Greg Stephens, who is not at the table in actual negotiations, has yet again, sent out another email with information that had gone on at the bargaining table. Here is what he said:

Team,

We have made good progress again this past week at the bargaining table with the Union. We have reached tentative agreements on several topics including:

“We agreed on a new business attire uniform program to ensure we are representing our brand in a professional and modern way with our customers.”

Fact Check--TRUE-- and in the agreed to language in the Business Attire MOA, #3 states; Shirts may be ordered with or without the Union logo on the sleeve. This language has not changed. Please contact your manager to see how to order shirts with the logo on the sleeve and how to swap out the shirts you may have with something other than the negotiated language in the contract. It should not be an issue since Greg says WE AGREED.

“We agreed to increase pay for nightly tours and on-call work, as well as increased funding on per diem expenses including meals.”

Fact check--SOMEWHAT TRUE--While there was an agreement reached on this topic, it was the Union's initial proposal, meaning, the company did not want it as they did not offer a proposal on it. They only proposed retrogressive items, including increases to your Healthcare, Cuts to your Retiree Healthcare, and a very restrictive Work at Home proposal compared to what is already in place. 

“We will continue to update you on our progress to reach a contract that’s good for everyone”.--Please ask Greg what else is going to be in the contract that is GOOD for everyone?

With that being cleared up, the committee focused the whole day on the current situation with BCBS and the Network Providers. There has been no agreement in their contract as of today, October 3, 2022, and you will be forced to go Out-Of-Network with many of your current doctors. All the while the company has known about this and not said anything to the Union and continued to bargain in bad faith by not disclosing this information. An Unfair Labor Practice Charge was filed around the 27th of September with the NLRB. Greg, how can we reach a good contract that is good for everyone when Frontier continues to deceive the public and their employees? Please explain. The Union has been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement to review information the company feels is privileged. We have that down to our legal department for review. Maybe we need a Special Master in this instance.

We are going to meet with the company tomorrow, minus Greg Stephens, although he is cordially invited to attend, as we have some counters for the company.

In Unity,
The Bargaining Committee

TS/cmt
opeiu#13