At CUNA Mutual, last year the Union filed a grievance over the way Reviews had been handled for 2013. Our Union went over all of the reviews, looked at those that had changed from the year before, and worked with the Company HR to re-examine some of those questionable reviews and to reinforce the language of the contract, specifically:

• The review is to be between the employee and their DIRECT manager.
• Forced ranking (where a certain percentage of employees have to be slotted into low performing, successful, and high performing categories) is NO LONGER in effect at CUNA Mutual.

The hard worked paid off! We did file a grievance once this year's reviews were in. This was to, in effect, hold our "spot" in the grievance process while we took a look at how reviews had been done for 2014. What we found is that the situation has much improved. We had fewer comments from members and the percentage of members getting "Improvement Expected" was cut in half.  In 2012, the number of members getting "Improvement Expected" was 8%, in 2013 it was 6%, and 2014 was reduced to 3%! That's a radical change in just three years! To me, it says what we've always known: Our Membership do their jobs and do it well. The only reason we had such high numbers of "Improvement Expected" was because of the Company's broken system.

 

There are things you can do to avoid finding yourself in that "Improvement Expected" category. As we stated last year:  

• Check in, regularly, with your direct manager on your work performance. If you're in one of those areas that don't have regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings, schedule them yourself. Every month spend 15 minutes asking your manager one simple question: "How am I doing?" Point out your accomplishments, listen to what you hear about where you may be falling short, bring up those things that are making it hard for you to be your best. Repeat, monthly.

• After the meeting, send an email to your manager stating: "Here is what I heard" with the "let me know if you disagree" at the end. Keep the dialog going. One best practice is to copy your home email address. business-deal-illustration.jpg

• Use the rebuttal field on the review forms. Ideally, those two fields at the bottom of the review is a consensus, a conversation. By the time you and your manager are done talking any distance between you is worked out. If the review is actually between you and your manager (and the Company has assured us that it is supposed to be just that) then you can have a discussion with your manager and reach a consensus. You may not agree with everything that your manager tells you, but honest people can appreciate opposing views.

• If you haven't made full use of the rebuttal part of the review in the past, it isn't too late. Wisconsin state law allows employees to request a printed copy of their employee file up to twice a year. Ask for it. Read it. And if you think something in there misrepresents how hard you work for the company, write a rebuttal then and there and send it to HR. The law states that they have to include it in your file.

Good job to everyone involved! Using the processes established by our Contract, our Union was successful in getting the Company to change their approach, to adhere more closely to both the letter and the spirit of the contract. That makes a better environment for all of us.

701 Watson Road

Madison WI 53713

Agenda           

• Right to Work and its impact
• Unit Updates
• Financial Update
• Your Questions: on RTW, reviews, Steward elections, and more

In the last election in which you did not have to use a State approved ID, the results were mixed. The big statewide election was for a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and that saw the Incumbent, Ann Walsh Bradley, re-elected. However, voters also passed a referendum that saw the way by which our Chief Justice is selected. Formerly awarded by seniority, the referendum state that it must be decided by a vote among the Justices. Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson has filed suit to stop the changes from taking place until she gets to the end of her term, citing the expectations of the voters back in 2009 that she would be Chief Justice until her retirement or until she lost election.

You can find full election results here.

Membership meetings are held the third Wednesday of the second month of the quarter, at 5:30 PM.

This is your Union. Your participation gives us the tools we need to face the continued opposition of both companies and politicians. We strive to make the meetings relevant and to the point. Please  stop by and participate in the democracy that is your Union.