USW Sisters and Brothers,
As you may be aware the company is now requiring that every employee at West Point and every member of the bargaining unit take their individual temperature at the plant gate before entering the premises. They have also created a training on the My Learning platform requiring that each employee verify his/her understanding of the obligation to take temperatures and to not come to work if experiencing any Covid 19 symptoms. The segment goes on to state that each badge swipe by each employee on each day when entering the plant acts as a verification of the daily temperature requirement.
Your union leadership asks that YOU DO NOT SIGN THIS VERIFICATION . As you may know the Union has consistently insisted that temperature taking is the COMPANY responsibility,. The company has resisted our efforts to persuade them otherwise through correspondence to Merck corporate and officials in the Commonwealth. In imposing this new daily verification requirement we believe that the company is now transferring its obligations to us and has set the stage for imposition of possible disciplinary action against individual employees. The company is scapegoating employees because the union has been outspoken in our efforts to do what we believe is safe and right for our members. It is hard to believe that a health care company that supposedly cares about the safety of its employees could be so callous or act in such an unconscionable manner. But that’s where the company has put us.
We will continue to oppose unsafe practices imposed by the company, including this one. We ask you to show your support for the union by NOT signing off on the verification.
In Solidarity
Mike Gauger, President and
The Plant Committee