We contacted Michelle Monroe, a staff writer for Saint Albans' The Messenger, a Vermont local news publication. We knew about Vermont because Stanley also won the contract at VSC and someone circulated copies of a news article published by The Messenger about Vermont and the pay cuts. Michelle was glad to hear from us. Not before long, we have become part of her coverage.
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Wage cuts to take effect at Stanley
Written By Michelle Monroe
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The Situation in California
California workers dealing with pay cuts are currently being paid as Data Entry Operators II. But on Monday morning those working for Stanley who have been at the service center less than three years will be reclassified as Data Entry Clerk I. They will come to work and sit at the same desk they sat at on Friday, do the exact same work, and be paid less for it.
There is no provision in the SCA that the Messenger could find for paying workers doing identical work less based on seniority.
Workers at the California center have been protesting in their off-work hours for a couple of weeks. Tran said that one current SCOT manager has been approaching protesting workers and demanding to know their names and what units they work in.
Kevin Nguyen, a supervisor at the California facility, wrote a letter to one of the current subcontractors that reads in part, “File Room clerks have brought to my attention that their supervisor, Thuy Ta, has warned them not to protest against Stanley. He called them on their cell phone during their time off and said that if they join the demonstration, they will be fired immediately. Stanley will void their employment agreement. He bombarded them with negative comments and made sure that they remained in their assigned cubicles during their lunch time. Thuy Ta has secured his position as a supervisor under Stanley next Monday, 12/3/07; it would be hard to say if Stanley has any inputs in this.”
According to the Vermont Workers Center, such behavior may be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. While the bulk of the act deals with relations between unions and management, Section 7 states in part, “Employees shall have the right to self-organization…. and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”
A Vermont Workers Center staff person told the Messenger that the section on concerted activities applies to both unionized and non-unionized workers.
Wolking declined to comment on the actions of the managers on the grounds that they are not current Stanley employees.
The Quality Control section is being reduced at the California Service Center from 28 employees to 18. Tran says that all of those who have been reassigned to lower paying jobs are over the age of 50. Half are over the age of 59.
Tran herself was among those whose Quality Control job was cut. She, however, will not be working for Stanley at a reduced wage. Her employment offer from Stanley was rescinded following her active participation in the protests.
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