North Pacific Groundfish Observer Union Negotiation Survey (For 2010 Contracts)
A project of the Observer labor and Professionalism APO Focus Area
Project Overview
The APO (Association for Professional Observers) and ObserverNet.org are sponsoring a survey for US NPGOP (North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program) Observers to give feedback on improvements they’d like to see for a new 2010 contract. The purpose of this survey is to get feedback from as many observers as possible on needed changes in the 2010 NPGOP observer union contracts. All NP union contracts expire December 31, 2009 and we have a unique opportunity this year to negotiate all contracts at the same time. In the past, contract negotiations have been staggered. This has seemed to work mostly to the advantage of contractors, and not necessarily observers. In addition, there has been a serious lack of transparency in our Union. Observers were not able to participate in negotiations unless employed by that contractor. Furthermore, many observers have been left out of participating due to lapses in communication. We would like to approach this year’s negotiations differently. The APO and ObserverNet would like to facilitate organizing observers to provide both the Union and our contractors a unified voice, regardless of contractor, on observer labor issues that we all share. We would like to facilitate increased transparency of current contracts, negotiation points from each contractor, and information about contract negotiations.Electronic copies of the survey are available for download in two formats (.doc & .rtf):
http://www.observernet.org/2010ContractSurvey.doc
http://www.observernet.org/2010ContractSurvey.rtf
Please send completed surveys back to: survey@observernet.org
If you would like to see some company contracts summarized for comparison, or post suggestions (anonymous or otherwise) related to contract negotiations, please visit: www.2010contract.blogspot.com
The information from this survey will be kept confidential, publishing results only as summaries to observers and our Union representative, Tracey Mayhew.
Thanks for your participation,
APO/ObserverNet Survey Team
(Dave Wagenheim & Liz Mitchell)
Contact Information
If you have any questions or comments to share, please contact us at:General Project Email: survey@observernet.org
Dave Wagenheim: davewagenheim@hotmail.com
Liz Mitchell: emitch@efn.org; 541-344-5503