“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever be sitting in a union meeting”. This sentiment has been echoed by several workers in a group of non-union workers at CMP who have been so frustrated by changes made since Energy East took over their company that they are now actively seeking to join the union.
Many of the workers have had no raises in two or three years, while their contributions to health insurance plans have skyrocketed faster than those of their union co-workers whose payments are locked in for the duration of their five-year contract. Job duties have changed, and workers requests for improvements on these and many other issues have been ignored. The final straw came earlier this year when it was announced that the unused sick time that workers had previously been able to accumulate for longer medical needs would be eliminated on January 1.