Gmp Local  # 291 membership is employed by Spartanburg Steel Products, Inc and Spartanburg Stainless Products, Inc. Located at 121` Broadcast Drive, and 1290 New Cut Road, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 29303.

The headquarters of the GMP International Union are located in Media, PA.    We are proud to be employed by SSP and belong to the GMP UNION family.

My intention is to keep our membership & friends informed about organized labor and labor's interest in working families.

Thanks for taking the times to visit.

Henry Gonzalez

President Local #291

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

INTIMIDATION

Q. The day after an employee filed a grievance, her supervisor apprached her and angrily said, "Hey, what's the big idea of calling in the union?" Is this an NLRA violation?

A. Yes. it is illegal to make an intimidating statement to an employee to discourage grievance activity.

INCREASED DISCIPLINE

Q. Our supervisor told me she plans to suspend a worker for loafing. when I said the union would grieve it, she replied, "In that case, I might as well fire him." If she does, do I have an  NLRB case?

A. Yes. Increasing a penalty because a grievance is filed, or because a union announces an intention to file one, violates the NLRA.

SAFETY RULE

Q. Can the Company adopt a safety rule without giving the union an opportunity to bargain?

A. No. Safety rules are mandatory bargaining subjects.

An OSHA regulation allows an employee to refuse unsafe work when each of the following conditions exist:

• The employee has a reasonable belief, based on what he or she knows at the time, that there is a danger of death or serious physical injury;
• the employee asks the employer to eliminate the danger, but the employer fails to do so;
• the danger is so urgent that the employee cannot risk waiting until OSHA can conduct an inspection; and the employee has no reasonable alternative

THREAT

Q. I have been encouraging employees to file grievances against supervisors who perform bargaining unit work. Yesterday a supervisor told me, "if I find out that you're soliciting grievances against me, it'll mean your job." Is this an NLRA violation?

A. Yes. You were threatened for the protected activity of soliciting grievances.