SEIU Local 1000 Targets Outsourced IT Work in 17 DepartmentsLocal 1000 has sent demand notices for all IT contracts in 18 departments. Total value of the contracts exceeds $1 billion. All contracts will be reviewed for compliance with state law.
Local 1000 Files Legal Challenges Against 17 IT Contracts in DHCSLocal 1000 filed legal challenges against the Department of Health Care Services for entering into illegal contracts totaling $2.2 million. “The work could have been done cheaper and better by the state IT workforce,” says Marie Harder, a Senior Information Systems Analyst at DHCS.
SEIU and State Agree on IT Transition Plan to Reduce Outsourcing at SCIFAfter 18 months of persistence and hard work by Union activists, SCIF management has agreed to a transition plan that will add more than 100 IT positions to SCIF in Vacaville. “IT outsourcing fights are not easy, but we had the resources of Local 1000 and it made a real difference,” said Stephen McVeigh, AISA at SCIF.
IT Members Joining the Fight Against OutsourcingLocal 1000 has assembled a group of IT professionals to help review IT contracts. Each week, IT professionals work with Local 1000 research and legal staff to analyze up to 15 separate IT contracts. “We get training in state law and procurement procedure (from Local 1000 legal and research staff),” said Jeff Recht, an IT professional at the Water Resources Control Board. “As civil servants, we’ve seen our jobs turn into project managers … We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”
Local 1000 Holding Worksite Meetings on State’s New IT Classification and Selection ProposalPlan to attend a worksite meeting to learn more about how the state’s proposal may affect YOU. The state plans to implement the changes in July 2008 and parts of it are controversial. Prior to implementation, the state must bargain with Local 1000.
IT Members Weigh In on Priorities for Next Round of NegotiationsLocal 1000 members are raising their voices about the state’s proposed IT classification system in e-mails and at worksite meetings. IT professionals say they are concerned about making less per year than employees in the private sector and about the possibility of getting passed over for promotions if the state’s proposed classification system is put in place.
Expansion of SEIU Local 1000 Professional Development & Scholarship ProgramLocal 1000’s IT scholarship program is being expanded to include IT classes at UC and CSU extension programs, as well as at California community colleges.