IAM Educator, V. 18, No. 2 (Canadian English)

EDUC AT OR

TIME MANAGEMENT for Stewards

Too much to do? Too little time to do it? You are not alone. There is something that can help — time management.

The fact is you already manage your time — everyone does. All it means is making decisions about what gets done and what doesn’t get done within the time you have. However, too often those decisions are not made deliberately but through habit or based on pressures from other people.

Here are some tips on managing your time in a way that can make life a lot easier.

1Review how you use your time. Look for patterns. Are you con stantly talking to the same people about the same thing? Are you always helping members do things they could easily do for themselves if you just gave them a little direction? Do you attend meetings, actual or virtual, that could be shorter or perhaps could be replaced by emails or surveys?

2Remind yourself of the purpose and goals of your position such as building union strength, improving the lives of your members and making positive social change. Subgoals might include getting more members active or teaching manage ment to respect the contract. Then ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing now helping reach those goals?” If the answer is no, think hard about how you can shift your time to do things that actually do move

closer to reaching those goals. A saying that helps illustrate this is, “When you are up to your ass in alligators, don’t forget you came to drain the swamp.”

3Make “to-do” lists of all the tasks you face and things you want to get done. Then rate the things on your list as “A” most important, “B” as next in importance and “C” least important. Then struggle to use your time to accomplish the “A”s then “B”s before tackling the “C”s. You may want to look at your list each day and highlight or create a separate list for the things you will strive to get done today. Keep in mind that unforeseen tasks and assign ments are almost always going to arrive so include that in your thinking and planning. Lists help you remember to do things and reduce stress because you don’t worry about trying to keep every thing in your head. Getting it all listed helps you think about and plan how to proceed most effectively.

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Deal with problems at the source — don’t repeatedly fight the same battle. Rather than filing grievance after grievance over the same issue, see if there is something you can do about the underlying cause. Figure out who in management can stop the repeated problems and apply pressure to them.

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Handle big tasks in pieces. Break it down into small bites. For example: request information, schedule a meeting, write an outline, think about it for 10 minutes, ask for advice, and so on. Using this technique will help you get started and make a big task less overwhelming.

Share information so more people can help you and themselves. For example, instead of constantly giving out health

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forms, set up a place where members can pick them up. Post important phone numbers, e-mail addresses and names of people the members can contact for more information. Hold short informal meetings and/or distribute written guides by e-mail or by posting on the union’s website where members can get answers to their most common questions.

7When handling paperwork and email, sort things by importance or use the functions of your e-mail program to sort, file and flag things in order of importance. Organ ize these communications so you can easily find them later. Get off of lists that send you too many e-mails and/or things you don’t need. With paper and e-mail try not to just shuffle them around. If you pick up something or open an e-mail don’t put it down without doing some thing with it — send a reply, file it, toss or delete it, forward it, write a note on it and send it to someone else, or enter it on your calendar.

8To reduce interruptions in an office, position your chair so your back is to the door. People are less likely to interrupt if they can’t make eye contact. Even better, post a note saying, “On deadline — please don’t interrupt,” or something similar. When working from home, handling interruptions is different and may be trickier. Working in a room away from family members helps. Try to schedule around calls, Zoom meetings and other obligations, like taking children to school, walking a dog, etc. Don’t feel you have to answer every phone call.

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Cut down on playing “phone tag.” Use voicemail to leave as detailed a message as possible. Use texting and email to suggest a time for a conference call. Talk to secretaries/ assistants and see if they can handle some calls for you. When you leave a message include the best time to be called back.

10If you spend too much time on the phone or in Zoom meetings, try to shorten those conversations. If you are making the call or requesting the Zoom meeting have a written outline of what you want to accomplish. If it’s a call or Zoom meeting set up by someone else urge them to state the goal in advance and if it doesn’t happen at the start of the meeting, request an agenda. Keep small talk to a minimum so you get right to business. Develop some good closing lines to end the call, such as, “I know you are busy, so I’ll let you go.” “If there is nothing else I’m needed for I will get off the Zoom meeting to deal with (another call/Zoom, task, etc.).”

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There are also numerous articles online on time management such as this one for social activists, https://lifelongactivist.com/part-ii-managing-yourtime/16-seven-time-management-tips. And this classic from Steven Covey, www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/ coaching-tools-101-what-is-the-urgent-important-matrix. While you are online look for books on time management that speak to you such as these www.spica.com/blog/the-best-timemanagement-books. z

– Ken Margolies has over 50 years of experience in the labour movement having worked for several unions as well as the Worker Institute at Cornell. Ken’s book, Managing with Labor’s Values is available through Labor’s Bookstore (www.laborsbookstore.com).

Ken is a partner in UnionSearch.org which helps unions find diverse staff.

❝ Look at your list ... and highlight or create a separate list for the things you will strive to get done today. ❞

Off Duty Conduct & Social Media

Grievance books are filled with examples of disputes away from the workplace — a boss and a worker who may have had too much to drink at a local watering hole, for example, get into a dispute and the boss demands that the worker be fired “in the interest of workplace safety.” An employee is allegedly heard in public, trashing the company he works for, or one worker may have threatened another one off the job.

These cases, and many others like them, have a common thread: some incident took place — or may have taken place — away from the workplace but the boss is punishing the employee, even though nothing happened directly in the workplace.

In the past, off-duty conduct was usually physical but the conflicts a steward confronts today are often based on social media. The huge expansion of social media sites during the COVID pandemic, combined with more intense political and cultural disagreements,

have created a whole new area of headache for union stewards.

In an ideal world, the US Constitution protects “free speech,” so members should be able to express themselves openly and on any topic without worrying about retribution or discipline, or even discharge.

But what about a member who posts, as an Illinois police officer did in April 2022, statements that are racially offensive or that demean certain individuals or groups?

Off Duty Conduct & Social Media

The issue is especially compli cated for public workers, particu larly schoolteachers and police officers, whose contact with their “employers” — the public — is part of their work every day.

In the discussions about off-duty conduct, the value of a union contract has never been more powerful. A non-union worker can simply be fired — for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all. The Just Cause of our union contract blocks this discretion, but puts the steward into a complicated and rapidly changing world of decisions, when the alleged violation occurs on social media.

One step for a steward that is common when dealing with discipline for off-duty activities is proof. When the boss claims a member violated acceptable norms, the steward should demand proof but, with social media, Facebook posts or texts or Twitter are there for all to see and can be recovered when deleted. There is also legal precedent that an employer can access private communications as a basis for discipline. As an example, one worker threatens or insults a co-worker privately, and the attacked employee goes to the boss — or maybe to the steward — for protection. The “private” message can be displayed as part of the discipline process.

There is a developing law on social media posts. Currently, five states (California, Colorado, New York, Louisi ana, and North Dakota) protect employees from retaliation for engaging in lawful

&!#!*

❝ If in doubt, leave it out. If you feel unsure about posting something — listen to the warning bells. You could be fired over breaking confidentiality, bashing your employer, pornographic images, flaunting drug and alcohol use, racist, sexist and homophobic rants or misrepresentation of position. ❞

– The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)

off-duty conduct and political activities, no matter how disgusting their commentary or behaviour. As a general rule, however, employees typically can be terminated for hate speech — any disparaging comments about protected categories like race, religion, and gender and our members may support the discharge.

One complicated issue is whether a steward is obligated, under The Duty of Fair Representation, to defend the members’ rights to express themselves when their opinions are harmful or threatening. In general, the local union — by a procedure defined in its bylaws — can refuse to carry through a grievance if the behaviour of the member is contrary to workplace norms. Once again, the whole complicated issue of “free speech” becomes the focus of discussion but there are clearly limits, both legally and among our members.

If a case comes up, negotiate with your employer some general standards that you can then pass along to all of your members as a preventive measure. Do

NOT let your boss unilaterally set limits on what your members can post off-duty.

In every case, a steward should be proactive and preventive in warning members that private social media messages, even sent on non-work networks during non-work time, can lead to discipline.

One union took a proactive step to avoid discipline cases. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) posted this warning to the members in its Social Media Legal Issues and Guide lines: “If in doubt, leave it out. If you feel unsure about posting something — listen to the warning bells. You could be fired over breaking confidentiality, bashing your employer, pornographic images, flaunting drug and alcohol use, racist, sexist and homophobic rants or mis representation of position.” z

– Bill Barry is a retired organizer and labour educator and the author of I Just Got Elected — Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook — 4th edition, 2022 (www.laborsbookstore.com.)

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

Dear IAM Representative:

9000 Machinists Place Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772-2687

Area Code 301 967-4500

OFFICE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRESIDIENT

IAM members regularly turn to shop stewards about local union affairs and their collective bargaining agreements. Shop stewards also field questions about the international union, national politics, and individual issues that often go beyond contract administration and enforcement. Providing reliable information on such a wide range of subjects is among the steward’s most challenging assignments.

Fortunately, it is not an assignment that stewards will ever be expected to handle alone. Seasoned IAM representatives at the local and district level are available to provide assistance in matters of contract administration. And a search of web-based resources such as goiam.org and aflcio.org can provide stewards with background and answers on almost any union-related issue.

If necessary, stewards should not hesitate to tell a member, “That’s a good question. I’ll get back to you.” It may not be the steward’s job to have the answer to every question, but once asked, it becomes the steward’s job to find the right answer.

The current issue of IAM Educator is another resource that provides stewards with valuable information. Published six times a year, IAM Educator explores topics common in every workplace and offers solutions on representing workers, dealing with management, and handling everything in between.

With US elections on the horizon and economic challenges facing nearly every workplace, this is a time of many questions for union representatives. Fortunately, there is a solid network of support, information, and everlasting appreciation for the front line stewards who continue to be the voice, the backbone, and the heart of this union.

In Solidarity, Robert Martinez Jr. International President

The IAM Educator is published by UnionBase with the IAM’s William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center, 24494 Placid Harbor Way, Hollywood, MD 20636. Contents ©2022 UnionBase. Reproduction outside of IAM in whole or in part electronically, by photocopy, or any other means without the written consent of UnionBase is prohibited. Design & Layout by Chadick+Kimball.