Card Kingdom Union Labor Management Committee updates: Your feedback in action!
/On Friday June 20 our labor management committee took large strides to address workplace concerns and feedback about low morale. August Jones, Natalie Roggenbuck, and Aaron Sargent presented a letter to management compiled of personal statements they collected individually. Your statements spoke to feelings of disrespect, unclear communication from management, and tension around unclear metrics and work directives. The committee took time to thoughtfully explain these topics and how we can course correct to build back trust, community, and respect at work. Thanks to the responses on your surveys, specific issues like summer heat safety, employee parking spots, and cross training were also addressed in the committee. After a productive meeting, both parties believed it was necessary to meet again soon and left with plans to discuss at length in a follow-up session.
Heat Safety
Management and the committee agreed that while heat management is difficult in a warehouse facility, they want to work together to find solutions to keep work safe and comfortable.
The employer agreed to provide training materials on identifying signs of heat exhaustion and wants to further the discussion on severe temperatures protocol, if work conditions become dangerous or unsafe.
The employer was open to the use of cold water stations near work stations and wants to continue talking about ways to best use fans and skylight covers to block out sunlight. They also intend to provide water and ice pops in break areas, like in previous years.
Parking
Our committee and management both agreed that the auxiliary parking lot has been helpful, and the company elaborated on their efforts to coordinate with neighboring businesses on the use of their extra lot space. Your committee proposed using designated carpool only spots to be reserved for those who carpool to work, and the employer proposed we meet again to continue brainstorming.
Stay tuned; your response will be needed! Management offered to run a survey to collect data on how many groups carpool to work to better understand how many designated spots are reasonable. Our committee will continue to discuss carpool ideas in preparation for our next meeting.
Cross Training
Your survey responses helped the committee come prepared with solutions: The majority of your feedback on "what's working?" pointed to shift huddles as the best way to maintain clear communication and clarify department goals for the day. Our committee proposed multiple ways to better communication when assigned to other departments:
Supervisor lead shift huddles to be maintained daily for all workstations so when labor is redistributed, work can keep flowing smoothly.
Red binders be assessed and updated to reflect any current procedures or guidelines.
Management acknowledged that Supervisory tasks shouldn't pass on to Leads when Supervisors aren't scheduled, and they agreed to assess shift overlaps to see if more support can be given.
We look forward to another meaningful conversation about workload, communication, and fostering a respectful environment at Card Kingdom—all the things that make our job fulfilling and safe. Stay tuned for updates about our next meeting. Your feedback and testimonies helped drive our conversation forward, and we look forward to hearing from you again!
