Information: Standard Parking Company, Atlanta Airport
Unlike our public employee brothers and sisters, we who work at Standard Parking at the Atlanta Airport have a union contract, or collective bargaining agreement, that we negotiate with management.
Our union’s decision on whether to dispute a policy is based on it being in compliance with a number of things, such as the contract and laws. We also ask, have workers been provided proper training, and do we see that working conditions, safety, and fairness are afforded to everyone.
Recently, two policies—the Swap Policy and the Absentee/Lateness policy—were revised because they were being applied differently at Park Ride and Self Park. We advise all employees to exercise your right to review your personnel file if you have concerns.
The Union does not write the policies for the company. We sign off that we “received” them, but it does not mean that we "agree" with all of them. Article 6 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the Management Rights Clause and it gives them the right to make policies and procedures as long as they do not violate rights given to the union under the CBA.
There is also an issue at Park Ride about management working in bargaining unit positions. The Union’s position on this matter is that workers need to be given the opportunity to volunteer for training or be able to bid on available positions. The Union is asking members to work those positions when asked to so that we will not lose a bargaining unit position.
For the most part, Standard has kept the same policies and procedures that were in place under PCOA. According to our contract, when management establishes a new policy or revises one, your union must be informed seven days before implementation. This seven-day period gives your union time to review it to make sure it does not violate the contract.