Letters Received
	Letter Dear Co-workers of Denver Water: Over the past month you have all heard about the Committee to Unionize. The response we have received has been very positive. The main reason that the committee was formed is to give the employees a voice in our work place. Currently, we do not have a voice concerning our wages, benefits, or working conditions. We are employees at will. This means the board or management can change anything they want, whenever they want. Working at Denver Water was always a good middle class job and we were treated fairly. Now management has redirected the resources of the company to outside lawyers, consultants, contract workers, and outside vendors who do the same work that was once performed by us. At the same time, they have frozen wages in several departments, cut benefits, eliminated jobs, and implemented a yearly wage adjustment that does not take the cost of living in Denver into consideration. Management now says we have the right to unionize, but they will not negotiate a contract with us. We do not think that management understands that this is America. And a majority rules!   If the majority chooses to unionize, we will demand a contract. The Police, Fire and teachers all have contracts; top management at Denver Water has contracts. Who do they think they are telling us that we cannot have what everybody else has? We will go to the citizens of Denver if we have to, this injustice will not stand.             Some of the Committee goals are to get a fair “across the board” wage increase; drastically reduce the time it takes to progress to the top step in our craft, grievance and arbitration article. This means if you have a dispute with management, and can not agree on who or what is right, this gives us the right to bring in a neutral third party usually a college professor to hear the case and make a binding ruling on what is right. Some other goals include a full pension after thirty years of service, a board member elected by the employees to watch employees interests and watch over outside contracts, the right to submit are own job family survey, benchmarks, and Denver area cost of living surveys, a voice in what our healthcare options are and a work environment free of favoritism and equality for all. These are some of the things we need to try to change, in no way are these promises. The UWUA or the Committee make no promises, except for the right to collective bargain if the majority chooses to do so. We realize forming a Union will not solve all our problems. There is no magic bullet, but having a voice at work will be a good start. The UWUA is known for their progressive contracts nationally. We ask everyone to attend a meeting so you are aware of our rights. Please get involved and do not fear retaliation. We have the RIGHT to form a union and if management does anything to interfere, the UWUA will take all necessary actions to protect you and your RIGHTS. The goal of the committee is to have a fair honest work place where Denver Water is run with respect for the citizens of Denver and the employees of Denver Water, who have worked so hard to make this one of the premier water companies in the country.  The Committee writes all letters you receive. Come and join us and have your issues heard.
	Why do we need a Union?   Denver Water has hired an outside consultant called Leif Associates (bean counters) to review our benefits. They have comprised a report that can be viewed in its entirety by going to Magnet on the Denver Water intranet and click on Benefits on the left side of the screen, and select Leif report.   This report makes recommendations on our behalf to save the company money. We would like you to look at some of their ideas:   ·        Vacation: Leif recommends buying back any unused vacation at the end of the year or losing it. Leif does not want us to cash in 12 to 16 weeks in our final year to increase our pensions. ·        Sick leave: Leif recommends reducing the maximum accrual in future years and eliminating the cash buy out. ·        Pensions: Leif states in their report, the legal requirements to eliminate the retirement plan create a significant roadblock barring a complete termination of the retirement plan. (The road block is a 2/3 vote by us to change our pensions) Leif recommends reducing pensions for new hires. Leif also states that the average in their benefit survey for a pension multiplier is 1.82. Our multipliers are 1.50. The UWUA’s average multiplier is 2.0. Leif does not recommend raising our multiplier to their own survey average. ·        Short-term disability: Leif recommends reducing the maximum sick leave accrual to coincide with the STD waiting period. ·        Long Term Disability: Lief recommends changing the definition of disability based on one’s regular occupation rather then one’s regular job. This will make it harder to collect. They are recommending redefining those who are permanently disabled to a non-active status, so they cannot accrue pension benefits. ·        Medical benefits: Leif recommends changing the retirees healthcare rate to twice the active employee rate (total cost of policy) and eliminating spouses access to the plan altogether. They recommend the retirees have to make the decision whether they want the retiree healthcare plan or not on the day they retire. You will not be able to opt in or out anymore. Once you make the decision to get out, that’s it, you can’t get back in! ·        Dental benefits: Leif recommends to eliminate retirees spouses from the plan altogether. They recommend the same as the Medical, once your out you are out! ·        Vision Benefits: Leif found that this plan is funded 100% by the employees who had a surplus of $53,000 in 2005 for which this money has not been accounted for.               Currently employees contribute up to 25% of our health coverage; however presently we have no voice in forming, changing or modifying our healthcare plan               The Lief report states the cost of our benefits are high, due to mismanagement and the failure to package our benefits properly and put them out for a competitive bid. Lief also states our healthcare premiums were $2 million higher due to the fact that the company did not have stop loss insurance for claims over $50,000, unheard of for a company of our size. We now pay up to 25% for our health insurance Retirees now pay 102% (active employees rate).                Management has wasted thousands of our hard earned dollars on mismanaging our benefits due to the fact that we do not have a voice. These are our benefits and our money they are wasting. Instead of fixing their bidding practices with the good old boys network, they choose to cut our benefits. They have already taken our 125-dollar a month postretirement health benefit away without even telling us! The Committee does not think that the company will implement Leif’s recommendations this year, due to our organizing efforts. How about next year? Its just about fairness
	Letter 2 Dear Co-workers             Over the past month you have all heard about the Committee to Unionize. The response we have received has been very positive. The main reason that the committee was formed is to give the employees a voice in our work place. Currently, we do not have a voice concerning our wages, benefits, or working conditions. We are employees at will. This means the board or management can change anything they want, whenever they want. Working at Denver Water was always a good middle class job and we were treated fairly. Now management has redirected the resources of the company to outside lawyers, consultants, contract workers, and outside vendors who do the same work that was once performed by us. At the same time, they have frozen wages in several departments, cut benefits, eliminated jobs, and implemented a yearly wage adjustment that does not take the cost of living in Denver into consideration. Management now says we have the right to unionize, but they will not negotiate a contract with us. We do not think that management understands that this is America. And a majority rules!   If the majority chooses to unionize, we will demand a contract. The Police, Fire and teachers all have contracts; top management at Denver Water has contracts. Who do they think they are telling us that we cannot have what everybody else has? We will go to the citizens of Denver if we have to, this injustice will not stand.            Some of the Committee goals are to get a fair “across the board” wage increase; drastically reduce the time it takes to progress to the top step in our craft, grievance and arbitration article. This means if you have a dispute with management, and can not agree on who or what is right, this gives us the right to bring in a neutral third party usually a college professor to hear the case and make a binding ruling on what is right. Some other goals include a full pension after thirty years of service, a board member elected by the employees to watch employees interests and watch over outside contracts, the right to submit are own job family survey, benchmarks, and Denver area cost of living surveys, a voice in what our healthcare options are and a work environment free of favoritism and equality for all.              These are some of the things we need to try to change, in no way are these promises. The UWUA or the Committee make no promises, except for the right to collective bargain if the majority chooses to do so. We realize forming a Union will not solve all our problems. There is no magic bullet, but having a voice at work will be a good start. The UWUA is known for their progressive contracts nationally. We ask everyone to attend a meeting so you are aware of our rights. Please get involved and do not fear retaliation. We have the RIGHT to form a union and if management does anything to interfere, the UWUA will take all necessary actions to protect you and your RIGHTS. The goal of the committee is to have a fair honest work place where Denver Water is run with respect for the citizens of Denver and the employees of Denver Water, who have worked so hard to make this one of the premier water companies in the country.  The Committee writes all letters you receive. Come and join us and have your issues heard.
	Letter 4 Dear Co-workers of Denver Water:        This letter is to inform you of the progress and issues the Committee to Organize is currently working on and our future plans. As employees we all know the problems we face daily at work and it all comes down to the same reason, we have no voice in our wages, benefits and working conditions. Management is now forming committees to hear the problems that they say they were unaware of. Management has hired an outside lawyer to deal with the union organizing drive. His plan is to say management had no idea things were this bad, and to put a temporary bandage on a few of the problems. Once management applies these bandages and waits for the UWUA to go away they will without a doubt implement whatever they want. This is a typical union busting tactic. Did management involve any of us when they increased our healthcare premiums and decreased our coverage? What protection do we have that they will not increase our premiums next year or the year after? We don’t have any protection, they can do whatever they want and if we don’t agree, we have been told that we can seek new challenges elsewhere. Anytime management decides they want to cut costs they look at anything that is not a fixed cost. A truck is a fixed cost, a length of pipe is a fixed cost, and a Union contract is a fixed cost. As of right now we as employees is not a fixed cost; anytime they want to make cuts they consider us first. The Committee to Organize has come up with some of the problems and issues that exist, and feel that if we Unionized and were able to work under a defined contract this could again be a family-like company. Here are some of the issues that the Committee has come up with. 1) Pay Rates a)      Yearly pay adjustments b)      0-9 steps c)      Shift differential pay d)      Weekend and Holiday pay 2) Benefits a)      Healthcare b)      Retirement plan c)      Vacation and Sick leave 3) Overtime a)      Call out b)      Workweek hour changes 4) Safety a) Concrete guidelines 5) Job Positions             a) Fair job promotions   If you have any questions or concerns you can E-mail them to DWDUNION2007@Gmail.com Stay tuned for our website.             We desperately need a voice at work and on Denver Water’s Board to protect our interests. The Denver Firefighters, Denver Police, and the Denver Sheriffs have all formed Unions and all have good contracts and a voice in their working lives. That is why those jobs are perceived as good jobs!   What about us?           Please, if you want a voice, fill out the union authorization card enclosed.  Management will NEVER see these cards. These cards are all strictly confidential!           Many of us have spent a lifetime building this company into a company that delivers a good product and good service to the community.  It is now time for management to show the same consideration to us, Denver Water’s Employees.