Questions to Ask Yourself while Deciding your Vote

Can you afford to take a day off to take your significant other to the doctor?

Can you afford to take a day off to attend your daughters graduation?

Are you expecting a baby? Can you afford to take time off to spend with your new baby? Or be there when the baby is born?

Do you come into work sick because you can’t afford to lose a day’s pay?

When was the last time you had an actual vacation? A vacation where you didn’t have to worry about losing your pay?

How much do you pay for your health insurance? Do you have health insurance? If so, what’s your deductible?

How does it feel to see T2’s and above come back to work all refreshed after having been on vacation?

How does it feel to be told that you can’t take time off to tend to a sick parent? Child? Partner?

How do you like being forced to take certain holidays off and not get paid for them?

What's it like living paycheck to paycheck?

What’s it like working day in and day out for months/years on end with virtually no breaks except for holidays and weekends?

How do you feel working for a company that offers no advancement or paid training opportunities (for example, certifications to improve your skills)?

Are you the sole breadwinner in the family? How is that working for you and your family?

Are you actively looking for a new job so you can escape this one? How is that working?

Do you like being treated as the lowest level employee in the building?

How is Lionbridge doing financially? The results for 2013

From the Annual report for 2013: Cash Flow 2013= $28.8 million

acquired 1.7 million shares of its common stock for %5.2 million
See details below.

A personal story about how we came to trying to form a union

As Lionbridge tries to portray "The UNION" as this unknown monster coming from somewhere else to take over I thought it could be useful to show what it was really like.

I thought it would be interesting to ask co-workers to share their personal experience of the present situation so I devised a set of questions that they could use (or not) if they wanted to share their story.

Here is mine (below).

You can find the questionnaire at the end of my answers. Feel free to use it or to write your own story without using the questions, or ignore the whole thing. 

Nota: this document can remain anonymous, ie no name given and too personal details avoided... Since I am already "out" I did not feel concerned about it.

What is Temporary Workers of America? How to create a union?

After yesterday's meeting with Lionbridge's management it was clear that many people had no idea how a union can be created and what type of union Temporary Workers of America (TWA) is.

I apologize for the secrecy that was part of the birth of TWA and here are a few precisions.

Temporary Workers of America is born of the frustrations of Lionbridge Technologies employees who remain classified as temps, temporary workers, while they have been working full time often for more than two years while the initial period mentioned on the contract was 8 months.

This misclassification is used by Lionbridge to deny any essential benefit, like earned/paid sick leave, earned/paid family leave, earned/paid vacation, health insurance...

A few people got tired of it, especially after a friend was immediately fired in August 2013 after she had the audacity to ask publicly about benefits in a small meeting convened by the management.

Temporary Workers of America chose not to affiliate (at least for now) with any existing union although we do have some regular contacts with at least one of them: TWA consists only of the people, classified as Tier1s, who work at the bottom of the workforce at Lionbridge.

Since March 2014 there have been 20 founding members.

Working at Lionbridge/Microsoft is certainly not as bad as working at other places that are terrible but this is no justification for not providing basic benefits that are in fact essential rights, when the company is highly profitable.

In our case Lionbridge is contracting with Microsoft, another hugely profitable company. We'll consider later Microsoft's role in the present situation.

How do you start your own independent union? It's a simple process: you need to collect the signatures of at least 30% of the employees that share the same classification in your workplace. 

For us there were first about 65 people then after a recent layoff this number dropped to about 37 (we are not totally sure about the real status of a few people).

30% means getting at least 12 people to sign what is called an authorization card (see picture).

Once you have reached the 30% threshold you can bring the cards to the local National Labor Relations Board, situated in downtown Seattle and ask them, by signing a petition, to organize an election with all the concerned employees.

That's what we did on August 5th and this election is planned for September 11, 2014.

Because of a long history of repression by employers against employees trying to organize (after all in our lab Marilyse was fired) the names of the people having signed the petition can remain secret: the NLRB does not release them.

I have decided to 'come out' so that employees who have no clue about who we are could at least have one person to contact easily. 

My choice is made easier by the fact that the employer knows my commitment to TWA since I am the one who signed the petition that was delivered to them.

More people will eventually do the same but it's up to them to do so or not and I completely understand and respect their choice.

Don't hesitate to contact me. I'll be available to talk during the breaks and at lunchtime.

Please don't engage with me about the union while we are inside the lab as we are -by law- not allowed to do so.

Thanks in advance for your concern and I hope you'll join us.

Philippe Boucher

What employers can and cannot do

Following up on the email LB sent yesterday I looked for more information about what employers can and cannot do in the context of a union drive.

I found this site (pro-employer) quite detailed and informative.

I have reproduced below the key parts.

What Employers Can’t Do

The following covers some activities that constitute unfair labor practices. Make sure that you don’t:

• Discriminate in any way against any employee for participating in union activities. This prohibition applies to all aspects of employee relations.
• Promise or grant benefits to your employees (such as wage increases, holidays, benefits or improvements in working conditions) to encourage them to abandon the union.
• Make threats based on employee support of the union, including threats of discharge, layoffs, plant closure or discontinuing current benefits.
• Interrogate your employees or prospective applicants concerning union-organizing activities.
• Prevent pro-union oral solicitation by employees during nonworking hours and breaks.
• Prohibit union insignia on shirts and jackets.
• Engage in surveillance of employees to determine their views on the union.
• Take a straw vote of employees as to whether they favor or don’t favor the union, except in special circumstances and in accordance with legally mandated procedures designed to protect employees. (Consult your legal counsel.) 

Although not necessarily unfair labor practices, the following conduct may result in invalidation of an election:

• Campaigning on company time and premises within 24 hours of an NLRB-scheduled election. Meetings held off-premises may take place under special circumstances.
• Reproducing and distributing official NLRB ballots and showing employees how to mark them.
• Discussing the union with employees in a supervisor’s office, regardless of the noncoercive tenor of your remarks.
• Prohibiting distribution of union literature in nonwork areas during nonwork time, such as in the lunchroom during the lunch hour.
• Requiring employees to wear “Vote No” buttons in the plant or office.

What Employers Can Do

You may hold meetings with your employees on company time and property to answer questions and discuss the company’s position and unionization. Just make sure the meetings aren’t held in a supervisor’s office. Talk with employees at their own workstations or in a group meeting. You can also mail literature to the employees’ homes, stating the company’s position, but be careful what you say.

Here are some of the things you can say:

• Describe the good features of working for your company, such as existing benefits, job security and steady work.
• Remind them that signing union authorization cards doesn't mean they must vote for the union.
• Inform them of the disadvantages of belonging to a union, such as the possibility of strikes, serving on picket lines, paying dues, fines and assessments.
• Explain the meaning of the phrases “dues checkoff” and “union shop.”
• Inform them of any prior experience you’ve had with unions and what facts you know about the particular union that’s trying to organize them.
• Tell your employees how their wages and benefits compare with other unionized and nonunionized companies with less desirable packages.
• Disclose the names of known gangsters or other undesirable elements who may be or have been active in the union, provided this is accurate information that can be verified by official sources.
• Inform them that, insofar as their status with the company is concerned, they are free to join or not to join any organization they choose.
• Express the hope that your employees vote against this or any union. 

Lionbridge does not believe that you need a union

From: Gordon, Richard
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 5:24 PM
To: Tier1s
Subject: Important message to the Lionbridge Everest Tier one team

Dear Everest Team Member:

As most of you know, on August 1, 2014, Temporary Workers of America filed a petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the United States government.   The NLRB will process the petition and decide when and if an election is to be held.

If an election is held, Lionbridge will work with the NLRB to ensure that all of you get the opportunity to vote in a secret ballot election.

Over the next several weeks, Brent and I will communicate with you so that you have truthful and factual information before you vote. 

 I will be visiting the Redmond operations in the coming weeks.

 I hope to have an opportunity to visit with each of you and to respond to any questions or listen to any statements you feel comfortable sharing.  

Lionbridge does not believe that you need a union. 

We prefer to communicate and resolve matters directly with our employees. 

In the coming days, we ask that you have an open mind and listen to what we have to say before you make this important decision.

Regards,

Rich

Rich Gordon
VP, Global Enterprise Solutions
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc
423 N Ancestor Place, #180, Boise ID 83704w. 208 321 4425 |  m. 208 871 0286

Our petition has been filed with NLRB: Case 19-RC-134044

Our petition has officially been filed on August 5 with the NLRB regional bureau in downtown Seattle.
It is now Case 19-RC-134044
What's next will depend on how Lionbridge reacts.
Their attitude will determine how fast or how slow the vote for/against a union takes place.
It will also be interesting to watch Microsoft's reaction.
Here is the link to the NLRB's page about the process.