Metro Union Members Approve New M.O.U.

Better Grievance Procedures Are Main Focus of New Agreement

SEIU members from all across Metro General Government worksites voted to accept a new Memorandum of Understanding (“M.O.U.”) that would improve employee rights and working conditions across the Metro Government.

The Bargaining Committee, which was made up of your Union co-workers Rick Beasley, James Bradley, Thom Brown, Jacqueline Claywell, Michelle McKenzie, Keith Metzger, Joe Savarino, Ron Sweeney, and Natalie Wiggins has been meeting for months to make sure that key issues were addressed in the three-year agreement.

“The main thing that we accomplished in this agreement is to get Management working more closely with us to solve problems and to make sure that they take our issues more seriously than they have in the past,” says Thom Brown of 911/ECC.

This MOU is just the first step to making some big changes for Metro workers. Benny Goolsby, who headed the Bargaining Team for SEIU says, “there are still more improvements in pay and benefits that we want to see, but funding those things still remains a big problem in a very tight economy. Great pay raises and better benefits are going to have to be a fight for another day and we’re only going to be able to do it if the members come together and help make it happen”.

Highlights of the new MOU: An enhanced process to handle non-Civil Service issues. A guarantee that the Union gets more input at the beginning of the budgeting process. A clearer and uniform grievance procedure. Clearer language on holding union worksite meetings. Ability to meet and confer about issues during the duration of the MOU.