PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The RDTEU executive board has been very busy in the past six months. Several major issues were resolved. The campus closing arbitration award was implemented per agreement between the RDTEU and Lincoln/MIT management. Five vacation days were awarded to RDTEU employees at Lincoln Laboratory and were added to their normal vacation bank and are accessible now. Fifty-two employees at the Broad Institute are officially members of the RDTEU. We have met with this group of employees several times to answer any questions they may have about membership in our union. As of yet, there is not an elected steward for the Broad Institute and we would welcome the addition of a new steward for our newest members.

At Draper Laboratory, we had two employees promoted from ‘A’ technician to Senior technician as a grievance settlement. The classification committee at Draper Laboratory clearly argued that both of these employees were qualified for promotion and ultimately Draper management was in agreement. My compliments to our classification committee and to Draper’s decision making management for a fair and equitable settlement.

Some notable changes have taken place or are about to happen with regards to management that the RDTEU executive board members interact with. At MIT campus, Laura Avakian, Vice President of Human Resources, has announced her retirement. In the time that I had the opportunity to interact with Laura, I found her to be very professional and accessible. The RDTEU was asked for their inputs in choosing a replacement for Laura and I was grateful for the chance to add input in the decision making process.

At Lincoln Laboratory, director David Briggs, will be retiring in the near future. In the past, the RDTEU had a good relationship with former director Walter Morrow. I had met with Walter with other former officers about funding at Lincoln Laboratory prior to visiting Massachusetts representatives in Washington for assistance. Unfortunately, the RDTEU has never had that relationship with David Briggs and I have never had the opportunity to meet with him. The RDTEU wishes David well in his retirement and we look forward to meeting and working with the new director.

At Draper Laboratory, there was a recent change and there will be a significant change coming soon. After the sudden departure of Linda Knight in human resources, the lab hired two new human resources representatives. One of the two replacements did not make it through her probation period and a replacement is being sought currently. Current Draper CEO, Vince Vitto will be retiring from Draper Laboratory in the next few months. I have personally had a great rapport with Vince in the years he has been in charge at Draper Laboratory. His direct but extremely fair leadership will be missed at Draper not only by management, but also by the RDTEU. I wish Vince well in his retirement and I will personally miss working with him.

         

David H. Gay
President