Bargaining Update #20 – 6/14/2024

Snapshot Summary

  • Takeaways: Revisited a few proposals from earlier in bargaining, and proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on unjust discipline targeting Megan Wheeler. While the company declined to bargain over this, we did reach one new tentative agreement.
  • Upcoming Sessions: June 28, July 22–23, August 26–27
  • Tentative Agreements: Political Action Fund Deductions
  • Union Proposals: Deduction of Dues & Fees; Union Membership; MoU on Discipline for Megan Wheeler; Use of Slack
  • TCGplayer Proposals: Use of Slack; Rules, Policies & Procedures

Full Report

On June 14th, 2024, we had our twentieth bargaining session for our first contract. Our team for this session included Ethan Salerius and Bob Guy, as well as CWA staff rep Mike Garry. We continued to ride the momentum of the powerful pickets on this day and the day before, despite the fact that the company had our room moved to be out of sight from the action outside.

In addition to our usual contract negotiations, we asked, for the second time, to revisit the open disciplinary issues for Megan Wheeler. Megan has been denied sufficient accommodations while pregnant, resulting in unfair discipline for absences related to her symptoms and medical needs. We find this treatment unacceptable and made a demand to bargain to reverse Megan’s recent discipline and to ensure adequate accommodations moving forward. The company’s answer was only that they lack a legal obligation to bargain over discipline.

Despite these roadblocks, we did reach one new Tentative Agreement, and expect we are close on several others that were discussed today. Our progress at the bargaining table is a reflection of the power we have all built together to push management on the issues which matter most to us and our coworkers. We have one more session this month, and look forward to capitalizing on this momentum.

Tentative Agreements

  • Political Action Fund Deductions: After clarifying CWA procedures for processing PAF contributions and providing a sample form to eBay’s team, we were able to reach a tentative agreement on our language from the previous day. While this is a small item and does not address conditions of our work on the floor, it continues to build out the mechanisms of our contract and participating in our Union more broadly.

    This is our 24th TA, with more than 20 other non-economic contract items still pending. There are a total of 41 pending contract items, and three proposed MoUs.

Our Proposals

  • Deduction of Dues & Fees: We cleared up misunderstandings regarding how dues are calculated and when they are owed, and came to an understanding that we want everyone to be made fully aware of their financial rights. We also clarified when we expected the company to make updates to these payments. We feel we are significantly closer on this issue, and await a response from the company.
  • Union Membership: This item outlines expectations for membership as a condition of employment and the option of agency fee-payer status. We are still waiting on a company response.
  • MoU on Discipline for Megan Wheeler: As mentioned above, we asked eBay’s bargaining team again to negotiate over the recent discipline of Megan Wheeler. We find the discipline of employees for medical conditions outside of their control when they choose to start a family to be truly horrible. In light of recent changes to NY State law, we had hoped the company would choose to engage in good faith to meet their moral obligations to Megan and other employees who could find themselves in a similar situation by providing appropriate accommodations and removing recent discipline related to attendance. Unfortunately, the company’s position is that they are not legally required to bargain over employee discipline before we reach a contract, and refuse to do so.
  • Use of Slack: We countered management’s proposal from earlier in the day, reflecting discussion on common sense regulation of Slack usage and an understanding that incorrectly posting union business in the wrong channel should not result in discipline. The company indicated they would have a counter proposal for this at our next session.

Management’s Proposals

  • Use of Slack: eBay’s proposal would establish a dedicated Slack channel for our Union, restricting our ability to post about Union business anywhere else on Slack. Similarly to how bulletin boards were negotiated, this includes a framework for the company to notify our Union when they feel a post needs to be removed from Slack. Following discussion on this proposal, we provided a counter on this item later in the afternoon.
  • Rules, Policies & Procedures: Once again, the company specified many items for which they would reserve the right to implement unilaterally, regardless of our right and intention to bargain over such changes. While this proposal cut a lot of unnecessary language, it did nothing to address the concerns we have already shared with eBay’s team. Ultimately, while we are amenable to reasonable policy changes, we have historically had significant disagreement with TCGplayer over what constitutes a reasonable change. We need to find a common understanding on several topics before we can TA this proposal.

Upcoming Dates

  • 6/23: June Members’ Meeting
  • 6/28: Bargaining Session
  • 7/21: July Members’ Meeting
  • 7/22: Bargaining Session
  • 7/23: Bargaining Session
  • 8/18: August Members’ Meeting
  • 8/26: Bargaining Session
  • 8/27: Bargaining Session
  • 9/15: September Members’ Meeting