SEIU 1000 lobbyist Hellan Dowden has been a huge help in getting our issues onto the radar screens of legislators, in hearings, lobbying and through the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB). Staff members from Sen. Darrell Steinberg and Sen. Carol Liu's offices plan to visit VSPW soon to see how the staff cuts have affected education programming. Future visits to CCWF and other prisons are in the planning stages. Executive Director Elizabeth Hill says CROB plans to hold one of their coming meetings at a prison. We have forged relationships with legislators and staff that have served us well.
The state Court of Appeal has temporarily blocked an Alameda Superior Court judge's order sending non-General Fund state employees back to work. That means that Local 1000-represented employees should observe Friday, April 2 as a furlough day.
State worker furloughs were an emergency measure that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger employed to deal with last year's fiscal crisis. They helped the state preserve cash at a time California was having trouble paying its bills. It was harsh medicine.
Join other Unit 1 members in pledging to help elect local and statewide candidates who support quality public services. We'll be walking precincts and phoning voters in key districts up and down the state. Please make a commitment to help by completing the form below.
Here are summaries of the five challenges.
Local 1000 is sponsoring two bills that will enhance monitoring the state's 13,600 personal services and consultant contracts. By our estimates, the state could save approximately $350 million annually by utilizing state workers to cut unnecessary and wasteful outsourcing in IT, medical services and architectural and engineering contracts.
As part of an invitation extended by the State Personnel Board (SPB), Brenda Modkins, Alternate Vice-Chair of Bargaining Unit 1, attended the focus group on behalf of Local 1000. Only one other state union attended the meeting.
Local 1000 met with the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) and the Department of Justice regarding the inclusion of the Legal Secretary and Legal Analyst classes into the three-rank pilot project. Local 1000 representatives had many questions. It appears some departments were simply included in the project to meet a required minimum of fifty percent. The meeting was concluded with a lot of unanswered questions by DPA and with Local 1000 anticipating full responses.
Just hours after a judge ordered the governor to halt the furloughs of tens of thousands of thousands of state workers (a ruling he pledged to appeal), Gov. ...
This morning in superior court, Judge Roesch has issued a tentative ruling partially lifting the stay that the Governor's attorneys sought. This means that furloughs will end immediately. Judge Roesch stated that he expects employees to be at work starting the next furlough Friday, which would be April 2. This will impact more than 50,000 Local 1000 represented workers in non-General Fund departments. The stay on back pay has not been lifted at this time. Judge Roesch also stated that he will issue his final ruling today.
This suit argues that CDCR has a mandate to provide a certain level of education in the prisons and that by laying-off teachers CDCR is failing to meet this mandate. The lawsuit is moving into the discovery phase and will continue to move forward. The case is still pending and moving forward but it may be sometime before we see resolution of this matter.
An Alameda County Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered the state to end furloughs immediately for tens of thousands of state workers.
Members step up politically: candidates answer member questions at statewide forumsYour Questions AnsweredKnow Your Rights: Contract Law, Release time for exams and electionsupdate_032410.pdf...
Local 1000 joined with other SEIU locals to hold a series of town hall-style election forums where political candidates made presentations and answered questions from members.
Channel 1000 LIVE town hall webcast with President Yvonne Walker.
Local 1000's contract, and state law, guarantees the rights of release time for different types of situations. Here are a few instances.
Today, Congress stood up for the People. Six years ago, 20,000 SEIU nurses, doctors, patients and advocates marched across the Golden Gate Bridge calling for fundamental reform to our national healthcare system. Today, that long march ended with an historic victory. We said a great nation can no longer accept a failed system that left too many out in the cold, too many bankrupt, too many dead.
Bill A. Lloyd, President of the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement on the news that the House of Representatives passed the Senate version of President Obama's healthcare bill, the most sweeping change in federal health policy in decades.
Thousands of working Californians in eleven video-linked sites took part in an unprecedented "Rebuild California Town Hall" meeting on Saturday where candidates running for statewide offices made their case for how they plan to Rebuild California. Saturday's town hall enabled 700,000 workers represented by Service Employee International Union (SEIU) California to hear firsthand how candidates plan to lead the state out of a deep recession and invest in our future.
Engagement Survey results... State Fund promises detailed, overall report for Committee come March meeting... State Fund plans to repeat survey in 2011; use this information as baseline to confirm progress... Union seeks ways to get deeper into information to provide fixes, even where focus groups might not identify problems.
The Unit 3 Bargaining Team conducts weekly conference calls to keep members up to date on layoff developments. On March 10 and 16, one activist from each facility was invited to participate in the calls and to share information with members at the facility. SEIU staff is also included in the call. Questions should be directed to your activist or DBUR. We are happy to answer all individual questions.
With overwhelming votes in the Assembly and the state Senate, the Legislature has sent Gov. Schwarzenegger a bill to end furloughs at non-General Fund and tax collecting agencies.
Furlough exemption bill heads to governor's deskChannel 1000 LIVEPrison LVNs win stable scheduleCandidate endorsement meetingsupdate_031710.pdf...
The State Personnel Board (SPB) Executive Officer has ruled against the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) in a case challenging the outsourcing of a new community program assessment service. The executive officer agreed with Local 1000 that state employees are qualified, experienced and capable of doing this specialized work. The department has 30 days to challenge the executive officer's decision and appeal to the full five-member SPB board. The cost of this contract is $1.6 million.
SBX8 29--a bill that would exempt state workers from furloughs that work in positions funded by at least 95 percent by sources other than the General Fund, employees of the Franchise Tax Board and the Board of Equalization--passed the Assembly on a 70-7 bipartisan vote. Since the implementation of furloughs the state of California has lost about $1.6 billion in economic activity--around 10,400 jobs and nearly $280 million that would have been paid in federal and state taxes.
Local 1000 will join other SEIU locals around the state to hold a series of town hall endorsement meetings in which frontline members can ask candidates questions.
The Rand Institute suggests that SCIF reduce its state workforce by over half its current size. In the document below, the Local 1000 Research Department examines how the analysis that lead to this conclusion was faulty, inconsistent, and stands in contradiction to existing data.
Writing a letter to your legislator is one of the most effective ways to communicate your opinions and/or concerns on legislation. A simple letter can go a long way in influencing the outcome of legislation that is most important to you. Here are some tips that can help you write a constructive letter to your legislator. If you need more information or would like somebody from SEIU Local 1000's Legislative Department to help you write your letter, please call us at 916.554.1258 or email us at amartinez@seiu1000.org.
Local 1000 attorneys are scheduled to go to court on March 22 or 23 to formally ask Judge Frank Roesch to lift his stay and require Gov. Schwarzenegger to immediately end all furloughs and pay back wages for approximately 53,000 furloughed state workers. It is not clear how long it will take Roesch to issue a decision.
Thomas Perine always wanted to be in a labor union but he never realized how much fun it would be - or how much work.
After a struggle of nearly four years, licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) won an agreement for post and bid schedules at state prisons that eliminates favoritism and provides stability for our members and their families.
The Union was notified in December 2009 that 15 of its members were no longer eligible to participate in a 403(B) retirement plan due to eligibility changes by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).
Profile: Thomas PerineSummaries of General Fund furlough lawsuitsJudge asked to lift stay, end furloughs immediatelyupdate_031010.pdf...
WASHINGTON--President Obama Tuesday night signed into law legislation that provides a stopgap, 31-day extension of federal subsidies of COBRA health care premiums.
Judge: Back pay for furloughed workersFull pay ordered in the following departmentsupdate_030310.pdf...
Economics of the shrinking Workers Comp market have not shaken State Fund Executive Board members from their current course, as Andreas Acker characterized State Fund as "well-positioned" for the anticipated shifts in business.
Customers are experiencing longer wait times at DMV offices up and down the state as the cumulative impact of furloughs worsens. In some locations, as many as 150 customers are in the queue at 5 p.m., with lines streaming out the door.
