Kronos

What happens when you…

• Collect 514 USA member signatures (64% of our union)… 
• Collect 394 solidarity signatures from PSU, MSP, and the campus community… 
• Deliver the petitions to decision makers 4 times… 
• And crash 2 university events? 

You… 

• WIN against increased oversight and inequity in the workplace! 
• DEFEND your contractual rights as a union member! 
• STOP management from implementing Kronos! 

Management’s plan was to have USA members start punching in by September 8th. You and your coworkers have successfully disrupted their plans!

Over the past two years, you have grown USA into a more powerful and active union. In May, University admin announced that they would be breaking our contract and forcing timekeeping onto USA members in Administration & Finance, but you and your USA coworkers organized to stop them. You collected signatures, you talked to your coworkers, and you showed up to rallies. The time and the work you put in made a difference. 

Most recently, we pulled off a clandestine rally to crash the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Computer Science Building attended by many high-profile donors, administrators, and state politicians. On another front, we are continuing to bring forward our grievance, which is currently being deliberated at the level of the President’s Office.

We won, but the University will never admit that we won, so you and your coworkers must stay alert, especially if you work in Administration & Finance. UMass may still try to implement Kronos on a small scale, under-the-radar.

Report anything related to Kronos or timekeeping to usakronoswatch@gmail.com so we can support you in fighting it!

How we got here

Management has tried to implement Kronos for our coworkers in Administration and Finance (A&F) several times, but have been stopped in their tracks because of Article 8, Section 8, paragraph D, that clearly states that “Unit members, except those in Auxiliary Services, shall not be required to swipe under the Kronos system unless all employees in a Department are required to do so.”

How you’ve fought back

Management tried and failed to force changes to this language into our last contract. They even tried to sneak it into our comprehensive proposal at the 11th hour, spurring us to file charges against them at the Department of Labor Relations (DLR) for violating the ground rules. Because of your support, and the support of educators across the state, Management backed off from the worst part of their proposal and instead agreed to bargain over Kronos separately.   

Where we are now

Now, management is insisting that they have a right to implement Kronos, regardless of what your contract says. Your Kronos Team is assembled and ready for fight with you. We will begin meeting with management over the Kronos timekeeping and location tracking system on June 2nd.

How you can take action

Report anything related to Kronos or timekeeping to usakronoswatch@gmail.com so we can support you in fighting it!

USA members – sign our petition and collect signatures by talking to each other in your departments, buildings, and across campus. Over 500 USA members have signed, over 60% of membership!

In another union on campus? Sign our Solidarity Petition!

You and your co-workers must band together to show management that USA members overwhelmingly stand against this implementation. If management comes for Administration & Finance (A&F), what is going to stop them from rolling this out for all USA members in the future?

What to know about Kronos

• According to Article 8, Section 8 (page 18) of your contract, “unit members, except those in Auxiliary Services, shall not be required to swipe under the Kronos system unless all employees in a Department are required to do so.”

• Management asserts that “all employees” only refers to USA members in this part of the contract, but the Executive Board argues that “all employees” includes all unions in the department and management’s assertion breaks the USA contract.

• Kronos does not serve a purpose that would help staff with their work or improve their working conditions. It would only lead to more staff surveillance and introduce location-tracking, especially for members who work remotely.

• USA members who already use Kronos to track student workers are familiar with how inefficient and time-consuming the software is. Implementing it for USA will disrupt our work and consume a lot of our time and our supervisors’ time fighting to fix errors to ensure we are paid properly.

• Kronos is owned by UKG, a privately held workforce management software company who recently laid off 950 employees citing AI as the primary reason (Source: Boston Business Journal).

• The largest minority shareholder of UKG is Blackstone, a war profiteering investment firm with significant investments in Israeli software and tech companies. The Research Committee will continue to dig up more information about Kronos and UMass’ ties to it. UMass Lowell recently declared Blackstone a “preferred partner” alongside Raytheon.

Check out this member editorial on Kronos! Click on the image above.