Our glorious leader has sent a response to the UFCW. I haven't seen the letter in its entirety, but I hope to in the near future. From what I heard, it was a pretty standard response: We will oppose the unionization and follow the NLRA. Maybe he thought we were going to grant him a mulligan on this hole? Maybe a "do-over" for the laws already broken? Get real and go back to swimming in your vault of money, Scrooge McDuck. Ok, let's get serious.

It has been long overdue for a report from the front lines. I would like to applaud some of my co-workers that have kept holding on to the hope of a better working enviroment for the advising division. You know who you are and I can't thank you enough for continuing to fight. Also, some of you have stepped up to become more involved. This is what it's all about people. Coming together, not just for the sake of your own benefit, but for everyone around you. For the individuals on the fence, please reach out to one of the organizers or call the UCFW to get some questions answered. We have already heard and will continue to hear HHT's stance on unions. Get another perspective on the benefits of unionization.

The last order of business is my view on the weekly meeting and our special guest from Pittsburgh. In the meeting I attended, a question was raised about morale issues. He gave a canned speech on this and I wasn't really impressed. Still, I did get a chance to sit down with him during my lunch break, which I thought was a little odd. Anyways, he was talking about some of the differences between the call centers. He said that he picked up some good features on the Toledo office. One of the other advisors sitting across from me said, "like what?". I about fell over in my chair when he said, "flex-time". What?!? Flex-time...we don't have flex-time. We called him out on that, then dropped the subject. Then a lead worker said "we have flex-time during overtime". Really ?!? I wasn't aware of this unwritten rule. It just goes to show you there are still not any consistent rules or regulations. The guidelines are only used when they suit management. I wonder what skewed view of HHT is being spoon-fed to him? I was almost ready to say: the HHT you have been told about is the one that was born 8 weeks ago on Dec. 1st. The one prior to that would have turned your stomach and you would have impaled yourself on your cane.

Rant off...until next time...