Unit 21 Alert: Bargaining Update – May 17

The Unit 21 bargaining team – representing Educational Consultants and Librarians – was at the table for nearly 14 hours today, and signed 17 tentative agreements. Among the most important is the creation of a new Education Leave Pilot Program that will allow members with five years of service to use a month or more of education leave for professional development.

Another important tentative agreement victory addresses our member priorities over a negative work environment created by bosses. Many Unit 21 members complain that supervisors frequently ignore their professional expertise.  This new tentative agreement will create a joint labor management committee to address this issue specifically. The new professional assessment and development committee will include all agencies with Unit 21 members.

Also included in today’s victories is the preservation of hard-earned rights from previous contracts, including language that preserves Unit 21 members’ professional FLSA exempt status. However, the state rejected our proposal for parity. 

Master Table bargaining resumes next week. More bargaining unit updates are available online at seiu1000.org

In Solidarity,

Miguel Cordova
Unit 21 Bargaining Chair