April 21, 2004
Two President Street clerks
who were laid off on March 29 have been offered re-employment in comparable
job titles at 55 Water Street. One of them started his new job on April 12.
The quick resolution of this issue was made possible by Guild members who
volunteered to accept voluntary layoff packages pursuant to the Guild
contract, thus averting the involuntary layoffs.
Two Ratings Information
Representatives have also gained employment in comparable titles after their
February layoff.
In both cases, the Guild
worked with Human Resources to ensure that the applicable provisions of the
contract were enforced.
In March, in response to
reports of burgeoning workloads, the Guild filed a grievance concerning the
lack of overtime approval in the S&P US
Equity Research Department. Initially, management’s response was to inform
analysts that they would authorize overtime only for work not related to the
analysts’ “core” duties.
The Guild pursued a grievance
through Human Resources and on April 2, department managers Stephen Biggar and
Ken Shea issued another memo, correctly stating the overtime policy pursuant
to the Guild Contract: that Guild-represented employees working in excess of
seven hours per day are entitled to overtime compensation. They are entitled
to it for whatever kind of work they do.
Enforcing the Contract,
including the overtime provisions, is a Guild priority. To continue to do so,
we need to hear from you, our members, about possible violations.
S&P offers a wide range of training programs to all employees to enrich
and enhance their professional skills. S&P staffers represented by the Newspaper Guild should
review the complete class listings available on Standard & Poor's
University Learning Center (http://learningcenter.standardandpoors.com/).
Please discuss with your manager which courses are most appropriate for
your professional development and the best time to take a class (so there is
no conflict in terms of coverage and the business needs of the department).
All employees should also be aware that if they enroll in a class and
do not adhere to the cancellation policy or fail to show up on the day of the
class, your department will be charged the cost of one participant, so please
plan your classes and schedules carefully.
Current classes being offered by S&P Learning Center include The
Power of Listening, Diversity Awareness, General Business Writing and Working
as Part of a Team.
Working as Part of a Team is being offered on Tuesday, April 27th.
This class focuses on key concepts of teamwork and how to clarify
one’s role on a team, recognize and understand different styles and
guidelines for creating teamwork. To
find a description or register for this class (or any other class being
offered), please log onto the Standard & Poor's University Learning Center
at http://learningcenter.standardandpoors.com/
The Guild and management have
agreed on a job description for Senior Copy Editor that creates a promotional
track for copy editors in CMS. Previously, the position existed only in
Investment Services.
The next step will be for the Guild to meet with management to discuss which employees in CMS are potential candidates for the job.
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04/21/04