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Don’t keep our workers in ‘suspense’ –
back pay parity for health care staff


Local 1000 members have worked for two years to organize and then negotiate for parity for health care workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the Department of Developmental Services (DDS).   

These negotiations culminated in an agreement with the state on Dec. 19, 2007 that would bring the salaries of about 3,000 health care workers who work outside the prison system within 5 percent of the pay of similar workers within the prisons by 2009. Under state law, our agreement with the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature in order to take effect.

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What’s next? Lobby, lobby & lobby some more

We must meet with Republican members on the Appropriations Committee to make sure AB 3043 is taken off suspense and then passed by the committee.  Then we will need to work together to pass the bill from the Assembly floor.  After the bill passes the Assembly Appropriations Committee, we need two thirds of the Assembly votes to pass AB 3043.

After the bill passes the full Assembly, AB 3043 will go to the Senate’s Public Employee and Retirement, and Appropriations committees and then to the full Senate, where we need a two thirds vote. Once both houses approve the bill, we expect the Governor to sign it but we must remain vigilant.
 
Please click here for ways that you can get involved.




Background on wage disparity outside the prisons


The growing wage disparity – as high as 40 percent in some cases – between health care staff in state prisons and in other state institutions threatens the quality of care provided to some our most vulnerable citizens—veterans and the developmentally disabled.

The wage disparity has caused staffing shortages that threaten the level of care and the safety of hard-working health care professionals. Health care workers in state mental hospitals, facilities for the developmentally disabled and veterans homes are dedicated to their jobs.

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Member action wins big wage increases at DMH, DDS, and DVA


The Local 1000 Bargaining Unit Negotiating Teams for Units 4, 17 and 20 have jointly bargained Tentative Agreements that address wage parity for Plata and Perez-classified employees in DMH, DVA and DDS.  The agreement was reached Thursday night, December 19, after four days of intense negotiations.

The Tentative Agreements are worth approximately $40 million. It brings our salary ranges within the affected classifications to 10% below CDCR equivalent classifications effective January 1 2008, and to 5 percent below CDCR effective January 1 2009. The only employees in the affected classifications who will not get a raise are those whose wages are already within 5 percent of their CDCR equivalents, or those who receive pay differentials that bring their pay above the new ranges for the affected classes.

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Important Links
    Pay Parity Action

    Level of Care
         Questionnaire

 August 21, 2007
          Level of Care