This article was published in the March 2024 edition of UAWD’s newsletter, Members Voice. Read the full newsletter here.
It’s mid-shift, and you’ve noticed a clean-cut, shiny-shoes, fresh-slacks supervisor with their stopwatch, ready to time every movement you make during your day. They’re not the one doing the movements all day, yet they’ll determine how loaded your job will be. The good news is: you can fight back and win.
Paragraph 78 in the UAW/GM National Agreement outlines an “overloaded job”. You can use the grievance process, as outlined in Paragraph 79, to request a new time study. But you’ll need to organize with others on the job to win.
The moment you hear your job is being targeted, get with your shift opposites. Set up a line of communication, and talk to your opposites at every step. Everyone will have to be on the same page before your time study:
- Save your old JES to compare times with the new JES.
- Request an “extended time study” from management. This paperwork will give you an in-depth look at every movement on your job and how much time is allotted for each movement. Look for things you do that aren’t timed, and make note of it (dunnage, walking, grabbing parts, etc).
- If your location has a Union Time Study person, place a call to have them join and time the job as well.
- Run the job by the book, doing the same sequences, in the same order, taking roughly the same amount of time.
- If you use a production aide such as a pouch or an apron, opt to stop using it until management is done retiming the job; they will use this to shave off walking time and add more elements to your job.
- Stay off your phone to protect yourself from retaliation.
The natural tendency is for us to get nervous and speed up, or use shortcuts we’re used to leaning on. Doing these things only strengthens management’s hand, and the end result will be more work on your job, more pain in your joints, hands, and fingers, and a tired body at the end of the day. But if everyone is on the same page, ready to run the job by the book and push your stewards to back you up, you’ll be well on your way to fixing your overloaded job.