The Union was notified yesterday that the company is planning on converting furloughs to permanent layoffs. You will be receiving a letter in the next couple days called a WARN notice that looks like this:
Here is a basic explanation of what a WARN notice is:
- Certain employers are required to send employees written WARN notices 60 days before a worksite closing or layoff that affects a large number of employees at a work location. The pandemic may affect some of these rules, but many employers are sending these notices to workers to comply with these state and/or federal laws. We understand that Host is sending these letters to workforces across the country—union and non-union but union workers, like you, still have protections under collective bargaining agreements.
We understand this is a matter of great concern and many of our members will have questions. We will be holding a membership meeting on Zoom next Thursday, August 20th at 9am, 1pm, and 5pm to answer those questions. Download the Zoom app (zoom.com/download) and join our meeting using this link: bit.ly/local5zoom.
We want to remind everyone that the WARN letter does not supersede the Employer’s obligations under our collective bargaining agreement. Here are the rights we still have under our union contract:
- Seniority – layoffs should be done by seniority within each classification.
- Bumping – if there are no available positions within your classification, you can use your company seniority to bump into positions of equal or lower rated classifications.
- Recall – any position that opens up within 365 after the layoff would be offered to laid off employees within that classification by seniority. We are also in talks with the company about extending this recall period to 18 months.
Join us for our meeting on Thursday and please don’t hesitate to contact your organizer Lisa at 808-223-4292 if you have any questions or concerns.