| Conoco Group NEGOTIATION UPDATES |
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| February 21-28, 2002 |
| February 21, 2002 |
| February 21-28 |
| The following was presented to your Committee by one of our members. They found it to say legions about the situation in both the Denver and Billings refineries. (Sorry, due to the vindictive nature of those managing both plants, the author must remain anonymous.) A REPRESENTED EMPLOYEE MANIFESTO We proclaim that we are born free and equal human beings, that our professions are by decision and opportunity, and that our Identity does not derive from being Represented Employees. We proclaim that we have the same value as people who are not Represented Employees, and we reject any scheme of labeling or classifying us that encourages Non-Represented Employees to think of us as having diminished value. We reject the idea that special contractual clauses must be created to "care" for us, and proclaim that some would use the skewed illusion of “good faith” bargaining in an arrogant stratagem that endeavors to abolish the legal instrument produced by these past fifty years of careful negotiations, and endeavors to "manage" us in ways that non-Represented Employee people cannot be expected to accept. We particularly denounce institutions whose purpose is to penalize us for being Represented Employees, or to suppress this body in order to meet the career goals of a few self-serving individuals who by their avarice disparage the backbone of this establishment. We reject the notion that we need "concerned experts" to tell us what conditions we should accept, especially experts from the very group attempting to alienate our members from those benefits long considered reasonable and customary. We are neither senseless fools nor uneducated Neanderthals hungry for a carrot worth a day of our time; neither will we be intimidated by threats designed to affect future discussions. We are not diagnoses in need of a cure or cases to be closed. We are human, with spouses and children, and human dreams; and subject to the natural influences on our human morale misunderstood by the persons in those very positions who are positioned to sanguinely affect this intangible asset, and this while they decree a regurgitated prospectus of team ideals. They serve as blind guides. We are aware that as represented employees, we have been considered objects of burden and we have been oft thought of as a long-hemorrhaging wound that must be cauterized, regardless the cost. We are neither. We reject company proposals purposing to exploit our health, our lives to create wealth for others, and which propose to establish the rules by which we must live without our participation. We also reject businesses that use us as "warm bodies" to provide an engine for their greed, denying self proclaimed and much touted principles like “Valuing All People”, and “Doing the Right Thing” for their advantage, laying down rules by which we must live for their profit or deny the priorities in our lives. We assert our rights of self-determination in the face of rules, eligibility criteria, imposed articles, unethical behavior, scornful practices, or other barriers, and we pledge to exercise our collective voice to deny those who chase after personal glory and corporate growth at the expense of our families by denying any authority or institution to deprive us of our freedom of choice. Finally, we assert our desire to reach a fair and equitable agreement that governs our employment conditions, particularly addressing issues of personal and community safety, both acute and chronic, and the benefits conjunctive to such agreement. All human beings are more alike than different. We recognize that when we assert this belief we will find ourselves in conflict with regressive institutions and their supporters, some of who may have been Represented Employees themselves. We do not expect scores of years of stereotyping to dissipate quickly. We commit ourselves and those who come after us to challenge our oppression on every level until we are allowed the respect and dignity that is ours by the nature of our humanity, and by our proven expertise. |