Robin Zaner - Chief Steward

CHIEF STEWARD MESSAGE

Labor unions in the United States were created to improve the working conditions of the work force. In earlier times, management paid little attention to the basic needs of workers, even failing to consider safety measures and health protection for those individuals actually doing the work. Employees worked long hours weekly and had little time for family attention and no opportunity for self-improvement. Workers formed unions to counteract the abuses from employers to the workers under them.

Due to the strength of their numbers and the rightness of their positions, unions were able to achieve many reforms in the workplace – most of which are today taken for granted. These reforms include the adoption of child labor laws and the establishment of unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, an eight-hour workday, and standards for safe working conditions. Unions also played a significant role in the establishment of public education and the Social Security System.

Workers’ rights and workplace protections are a continuing issue here at the FDIC. Workers and management should represent a partnership to ensure that the FDIC’s mission is accomplished, the work is done well, and the employees are treated fairly, equitably, and with respect. Without the strength represented by a union, workers lack the clout to serve as equal partners with management and risk experiencing deterioration in the benefits achieved through previous hard-fought battles. Examples of such lessening of worker benefits and protections are evident in current litigation pitting workers against major corporations. Of more direct relevance, the current legislative proposal (FDIC Workforce 21 Act) and management’s “new” interpretation of RIF rules provide ample evidence of management efforts to erode the benefits and protections currently enjoyed, and taken for granted, by FDIC employees. NTEU provides the only credible voice and clout to counter the unfavorable proposals contained in this legislation and other management initiatives.

NTEU members have worked very hard over the years to attain the many benefits FDIC employees currently enjoy (e.g., day care, employee parking, employee fitness center, dental and vision care to name a few). This is a critical time for the FDIC – this administration will, if it gets its way, do away with virtually all federal worker protections and benefits. Our current leadership would like to hire and fire employees at will under the guise of “workforce flexibility.” This is really a return to the spoils system where politics dictates employment.

TO ALL FDIC EMPLOYEES: Every worker protection and benefit you currently enjoy is a direct result of your union’s hard work. If you are not already a member, please join Chapter 207 now and add your voice to those who are working so hard to help you keep your job and benefits. We can’t fight the good fight without your help, so don’t be a slacker, join now.

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