“SO WHEN IS THE VOTE”?

One of the most common questions asked of us at meetings or by e-mail is “when is the vote”? Many employees have the misconception that all the Alliance has to do is call someone up and ask for a union vote to be held. Unfortunately it isn't that easy and the process of getting to the vote is difficult.
Here is the reality of getting to the vote: First the Alliance must show the National Labor Relations Board that at least 30% of the workers in a given bargaining unit have signed union authorization cards. But no union goes into an election with 30%. With that low a percentage the union is doomed to lose. Unions go into elections with a strong majority signed up or not at all. In order to win the election there must be a vote of 50% plus 1 of the people that actually vote.
The makeup of the bargaining unit also has to be defined and IBM plays a role in this as well. For example is it Burlington only or the whole Microelectronics division? Is it one IGS location or all of the division?

So what do we do? We keep organizing for the long haul, site by site; office by office; worker by worker. When roadblocks are thrown in our way, we take them down or we choose a different path.

Ever since IBM started taking away the benefits that were promised to people when they were hired, the Alliance@IBM has strived to undo the injustices that IBM perpetrated in the name of short term financial gain. Members of the Alliance@IBM have taken and continue to take actions such as writing letters to Senators, Congressmen and newspapers, launching email campaigns, organizing and attending large rallies and smaller meetings, introducing stockholder resolutions at the Annual Stockholders Meeting, circulating newsletters at the workplace and in the community, and much more. In December of 2001, The Alliance@IBM was accepted as Local 1701 of the Communications Workers of America, AFL/CIO.

Despite a solid history of activism and advocacy, there is still a lack of understanding of who and what we are. The Alliance@IBM is a nationwide membership organization of IBM employees and retirees as well as outsourced/sold off IBM employees and contractors. We are a democratic organization, governed by Officers and a Council of delegates, all elected by our dues-paying members. Our basic principle is that only by standing together with your fellow employees can you hope to keep the benefits you still have, restore the benefits that you lost, and address key concerns such as job security. IBM has clearly shown what can be expected when workers don’t stand together.

While the ultimate goal must always be a contract, there is much that can be done right now. The CWA is in the forefront of efforts to revive and rebuild the American labor movement, and the Alliance@IBM is part of that. Over the past 50 years, the Wagner Act, or National Labor Relations Act, has been increasingly interpreted as applying to majority-based collective bargaining only. Prior to passage of this act, the American system of collective bargaining also included minority-based union bargaining. Employers recognized and negotiated with members only minority-based unions. The truth is that a union’s right to bargain need not depend on a majority vote process. Workers’ “right to form, join, or assist labor organizations [and] bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing,” can be exercised in minority or majority unions.

Simply put, the Alliance@IBM can take action now. There is no need to be discouraged that we have not sought or won a vote. While the numbers needed to win a union vote at IBM are enormous (there are approximately 130,000 IBM employees in the U.S.), a much smaller number of people willing to stand together can be very effective. Not only can we challenge IBM directly, we can also reach out to other labor organizations and community-based non-labor groups, forming partnerships to address our mutual concerns. While keeping our eye on the long-term goal of a contract, we can be part of the larger effort to build a new model for organizing. The Alliance@IBM can serve as an example for other workers, contributing to the resurgence of the labor movement and the restoration of collective bargaining and organizing rights to millions of American workers. However, effectiveness is directly related to membership. Not only does the Alliance@IBM need to add members, we need these members to actively participate in this history-making struggle. Neither the CWA nor the Alliance@IBM is going to win collective bargaining rights for IBM employees; the employees must fight to win these rights for themselves.

To get involved or to ask a question, please contact the Alliance at endicottalliance@stny.rr.com.