UAW and OCOPE meet with students and workers

Union reps describe their roles for workers

The Labor Party is working on Oberlin.

The Oberlin Labor Party and the Student Labor Action Coalition sponsored a meeting with Oberlin College workers and representatives from two unions on campus Thursday. Grant Grace from United Auto Workers (UAW) and Julie Weir from Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees (OCOPE) union spoke to over 50 students and College workers about issues in current politics that affect unions.

Grace, the president of 2192, the UAW local, spoke about Issue 2, a bill that would remove the current workers compensation system from the hands of employers and place it in the public sector. Grace criticized the measure for a number of reasons, including that it placed the burden of proving a compensation claim on employees.

Weir said the OCOPE union was going to renegotiate its contract with the College in early May. "We are in the infant stages," Weir said. "We are at the point of gathering information," she said.

From 1990 to 1995, the College was in conflict with the UAW on points of its contract. The College settled with the UAW in 1995 after union members threatened to strike. The Performance Management system, which many workers found demeaning, was eliminated as part of the settlement.

The issue dominated campus politics for five years.

The two representatives spoke about how employers in general try to act as if unions did not exist in the work place. "Even when there is a union organized, the employer tries to work as if the union wasn't there," Weir said.

OCOPE represents all departmental secretaries, paraprofessionals in the library, piano tuners, art museum workers and other odd jobs. UAW represents food service employees, skilled workers and grounds workers. The unions are two of four unions on campus. Carpenters and campus security each are part of different unions.

Both the OCOPE and UAW contracts are up for renewal this Spring. "Two unions going into negotiations at the same time certainly makes them stronger," Grace said.

Members of the audience called for the two unions to communicate and work together to better represent the needs of their constituents.

Weir and Grace could not guarentee any formal planning with OLP or SLAC, but they said if they needed help, they would make calls to its members.

"Timing is everything, and changes and moods change very quickly," Weir said.