Master Table Bargaining Update for Wednesday, August 14th, 2019
Local 1000 Bargaining Team Signs Over 50 Tentative Agreements; State Submits Counters-Proposals and Rejections

Notification

The SEIU Local 1000 bargaining team returned to the table on Wednesday, August 14th, fresh off our powerful contract campaign rally on Tuesday, which brought together thousands of members and their families in our demand for a California for All. The team signed 52 “roll-over” Tentative Agreements (TAs) to keep the momentum going and received a number of counter-proposals from the state including items on telework, flexible work hours, overtime (compensated time off usage), and overtime meal benefits and allowances.

Equally important, state negotiators also submitted several rejections of Local 1000 proposals that:

  • Establish a housing differential to help defray the cost of skyrocketing rents and mortgage payments so state workers can afford to live where they work.
  • Create a geographic pay system in California that provides civil servants working in high cost areas with salary increases to cover the higher cost of living.

In addition, the state offered counter-proposal language on the Workplace Violence and Bullying Prevention Program, which would require the program be updated to include an outside benchmark for what constitutes “abusive conduct” after the new contact takes effect.

While good progress has been made at the unit bargaining tables throughout the negotiation process, dozens of important proposals that provide union wide improvements still remain to be discussed at the master table.

“On Wednesday, the state stepped up its efforts on clearing items and responding,” said Yvonne Walker, SEIU Local 1000 president. “That gives us a place to engage and gets us closer to where we need to be in this process.

Wednesday’s session also saw the state submit a counter-proposal on vacation annual leave that rejected union proposed language to extend credits for vacation leave, thereby encouraging workers to use their vacation days and draw down vacation leave liability on agency books.

The state insisted management was aware of the problem and some institutions had limitations based on the 24/7 schedule of state facilities such as prisons. However, understaffing often drives the inability of employees to use their vacation. The bargaining team then pointed to the Department of Motor Vehicles as an agency that understands the role that vacation leave plays in maintaining agency productivity and employee health and well-being. 

This was in addition to highlights from Monday’s bargaining table session, which included:

  • Three new proposals from the state regarding Merit Salary Adjustments, Out-of-Class Grievances, and Enhanced Industrial Disability Leave.
  • A state counter-proposal focused on the Medical Reimbursement Account Workgroup.
  • 17 TAs that primarily covered a wide range of health and workplace safety related provisions from the current contract.

The Local 1000 bargaining team will be reviewing and responding to the counter-proposals the state has made in the coming weeks. In the interim, members are encouraged to call your immediate supervisor and discuss your desire to build a California for All and to urge your colleagues to visit seiu1000.org and sign up to receive texts and site updates.