In the Seattle Times: Microsoft temps gain first contract.

In the Sunday August 20 edition of the Seattle Times, this article by Matt Day: Microsoft temps gain first contract. Not mentioned, the second edition of The Other Microsoft that details the process. On Monday, Nat Levy posts on Geekwire.com: Temp workers at Microsoft supplier sign first contract amid layoffs.

About the lay offs

From the information we have, 6 people decided to leave voluntarily and 6 were laid off.  All the people who left voluntarily and not voluntarily were on the day shift. All our best wishes for those looking for jobs: let us keep in touch. Take good care.

Lionbridge reports Q2 results with record revenue of $143.8 million,

Lionbridge reports Q2 results with record revenue of $143.8 million, GAAP EPS of $0.09 and record non-GAAP EPS of $0.19 

August 5, 2015 -

Delivers 10% Revenue Growth and 58% non-GAAP Earnings Growth Year-on-Year; Provides Positive Outlook for Q3 with Expected Revenue Growth of More Than 20% Year-on-Year

 WALTHAM, Mass. – August 05, 2015 – Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIOX), today announced revenue and earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015.  Financial highlights for the second quarter include:

• Record revenue of $143.8 million, an increase of $13.2 million or 10% compared to the second quarter of 2014 and a sequential increase of $7.0 million, or 5%, compared to the first quarter of 2015.

The ratification vote passes 30 to 1

You probably already know that the ratification vote passed 30 to 1.

Now will start the painful process of the lay offs.

Let us know how it works out and what problems if any you are confronted with.

Thanks again to all who helped figure out the agreement and organized the vote.

Take care

Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement Between Lionbridge and Temporary Workers of America

This Saturday morning, from 9AM to 2PM. five of us negotiated with three Lionbridge's representatives a contract in the context of the upcoming layoffs.
You can read the content of this addendum here.
Were present for the union, Lizzie Mueth, Jeff Chapman, Leo Guerra, Colin Sweeney and Philippe Boucher .
We obtained a severance payment for people leaving voluntarily or not:
4 weeks pay plus one week per year of presence.
We don't know how many people will be concerned (we were told between 10 and 20) and the date would be August 10.
For the people who will stay, the minimal pay will be $19.50 per hour, becoming $20 six months later. They'll also become eligible for merit pay based increases on the second payroll period after ratification.
People with more than 9 months of employment immediately become regular with all the benefits linked to this classification: paid company holidays and paid time off increasing with the years of employment, more than the 15 days we have now.
Lionbridge told us they were considering parental leave but nothing was decided yet. We'll see.
The five of us felt this was the best we could get so we accepted this offer and it will be submitted to a ratification vote by all lab employees this coming Wednesday.
You should receive printed copies of the agreement at the office on Monday and we'll post it online as well as soon as possible.
The selective process to determine who is laid off will rely on the last three evaluations and made by Tier2s with at least one year in their position. It was very difficult to devise a fair system of selection and we thought this was the best possible option in a process that remains inherently painful and somehow subjective.
In exchange of Lionbridge's concessions the union agreed to abandon after the ratification of this agreement all NLRB charges pending against Lionbridge and Microsoft.
We think this was a best effort and we hope you'll support it.
If you have any questions, email us or talk with the people who attended this meeting.
It was very generous of them to devote so much time of their week end to this negotiation and contribute key valuable suggestions.
Have a good week end.

A meeting this coming saturday July 30 with Lionbridge about "the potential for work force reductions"

Lionbridge is proposing a meeting with the union this coming saturday July 30 at 9AM in their office in the building across from the lab, Sterling Plaza, Suite 300.
Here is the initial text we received tuesday afternoon:

 Lionbridge has completed its review of the impact of the reduced volume of work it will be performing on the ACO project under the new contract with Microsoft.  As a result, we need to discuss the ultimate location of the ACO work, as well as the potential for work force reductions in Bellevue, and of course the time table for such actions.
We are available any time on Saturday, July 30. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Please let us know if you want to attend. Lionbridge says that because their office will be closed, security would like to know the names of the people who will be coming for the Union.

Revisiting page 84 of the 2015 US employee handbook: what is/was our classification? what is/was our eligibility for paid time off and paid company holidays?

Have a closer look at page 84, Exhibit G - Paid Time Off of Lionbridge's 2015 US Employee Handbook. Remember that this document was supposedly sent to us on March 9, 2015. We write supposedly because none of the Tier1 employees we interviewed could find this email nor the handbook in their email archives nor did they remember having confirmed they had received it and read it.
Notice the distinction between HP (Hewlett Packard) and Non HP employees. 
If we are to believe the handbook, by that time 'all regular employees are eligible per the chart above'. Does that mean we should have been eligible for paid time off and paid company holidays as soon as March 9 2015 but were just not 'told' by Lionbridge?
Or were we excluded from this because we were are part of a unit that was/is unionized and in the process of collective bargaining? Why was this policy change never mentioned by the Lionbridge's representatives during the collective bargaining meetings?
What is our classification today as Tier1s in this unit? 
What was our classification on March 2015?