Members set bargaining priorities; follow-up meetings begin April 15
Bargaining Survey Results
Preserving hard-earned retirement benefits, keeping a lid on insurance costs, and preventing wasteful outsourcing of state work were among the topratedpriorities identified by members in their bargaining surveys.
More than 250 member-elected District Bargaining Unit Representatives (DBURs) learned the results from 21,275 surveys at a meeting of the Statewide Bargaining Advisory Council, and will return to worksites beginning April 15 to share the results and get input from members in a series of “Follow-up” meetings.
“We’ll be soliciting additional member feedback and will further refine our bargaining strategies to reflect what’s most important to our members,” said Yvonne Walker, Local 1000 vice president for bargaining.
Another key issue discussed by Local 1000 bargaining representatives: the looming battle to break the insurance industry’s stranglehold on CalPERS and our health care premium rates. The bargaining advisory council also adopted procedures for submitting pay equity adjustments.
In February, more than 10,000 members attended “Listen-Up” meetings and shared their comments and concerns about the upcoming contract negotiations. “The ‘Listen-Up’ meetings really changed the way members look at Local
1000,” said Victoria Jones, a bargaining representative from the State Compensation Insurance Fund in Petaluma. “Talking with state workers about their jobs gave them a real positive feeling about the union and what we do.
