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The Union has spent the last week collecting and reviewing information pertaining the re-alignment at Fort Myers and Sanford in preparation for our next meeting on Monday, July 2, 2001. At this time we are still awaiting some of the information requested in our last meeting from the Company and have sent additional requests to each of the Local Union Presidents who are in the process of collecting that data. We have made arrangements to have two additional representatives from the field at our meeting on Monday to assist us in the discussions. As soon as further details are known we will inform the membership.

Company and Union representatives from the Health Trust, Contractor and Grievance Committees met last week as a group to kick off the process. During the meeting, the representatives discussed roles and responsibilities, their mission, as it was negotiated and reporting methods to the Negotiating Committees as they work on these very important issues. At this time, each of the committees have set their own schedules for future meetings and are expected to meet on a regular basis.

The Company and Union met this week in an attempt to finalize work on the new contract books. Both parties reviewed the third draft of the document during the meeting and are currently researching a few issues that still need clarification before we can finalize the book. Once we agree on the final draft it will be sent to the International Office and then to the printer. We hope that we can complete this process in the next couple of weeks so the books can be sent to the field as quickly as possible.

Several issues have surfaced in the field since the Company switched the administration of FMLA to Liberty Mutual. Two of the largest concerns deal with the letter that is being sent to Employees along with the application forms when an employee may qualify for an FMLA event. This letter is misleading employees into believing that they have already requested FMLA and must complete and return the attached forms because they are unable to perform the essential job functions of their classification. According to the Company this letter is a generic letter used by Liberty Mutual for all companies they are contracted through. . It is sent by Liberty Mutual as a result of pay codes entered into the payroll system for certain illnesses and injuries that may qualify as FMLA events.

We continue to have discussions with the Company on this issue to eliminate the misunderstanding and misleading statement in the letter. This bulletin is to inform you that the law for requesting FMLA has not changed. It is up to you as an employee to request FMLA protection if you so desire, the law itself does not require you to request it. However, the Company is required by law to code your illness or injury as a possible qualifying event if it meets certain criteria, inform you of the law, your rights under the law and supply you with the necessary forms to request FMLA. We will continue to meet with the Company on this issue and will let you know the outcome when we complete or discussions.

The other concern is a statement on page three (3) in the FMLA brochure that was mailed to each employee, which reads:

• "Note: Failure to return the requested documentation may result in your FMLA leave request being denied. Therefore, it is important that you complete and return the necessary documentation within 15 days; otherwise, your leave is not protected and you could be subject to disciplinary actions".

In our discussions with the Company it was agreed that employees could misconstrue this statement. The statement was intended to let employees know, by not requesting FMLA they would not be entitled to the protection under the law prohibiting disciplinary action against an employee for an FMLA qualifying event.

The Company and Union continued discussions this week regarding the use of corporate credit cards by traveling employees and increasing the amount of expense advances. The Company is in the process of finalizing the procedures and guidelines in preparations for our review and roll out the field.

Fraternally,

B. K. Thompson