Working Hard to Enforce Our Member’s Hard-Earned Contract Rights

The Contract Local 1000 members worked hard to achieve contains hundreds of provisions that govern our wages, benefits, and working conditions. Even though we’re working in “pandemic times,” our Union Stewards and our Union Resource Center are on the front lines, ensuring our members receive full representation. And when management fails to respect us, we’re finding solutions for our members.

Win: Pay error corrected…with interest

Our Contract ensures that our wages are paid correctly and on time. So, when a member at the Department of Industrial Relations experienced a pay error that went on for months in the form of an unpaid merit salary adjustment, our URC stepped in to help solve the issue. Despite acknowledging they had made an error, the department hadn’t paid our member. Our representational team elevated the issue to Labor Relations, but it still took months for the final, accurate calculation of past due wages.

Through the efforts of our union representative, our member received back pay plus interest covering the time it took to resolve the issue. In all, the total came to nearly $5,000.

Win: Bereavement leave denial reversed

Recently, one of our members at the California Department of Education had a 3-day bereavement leave denied by a supervisor, who insisted that the leave was not valid because our member had not attended her uncle’s funeral. The supervisor also held up the members’ time sheet at the end of the month.

Our URC rep contacted Labor Relations and cited our contract language, which does not require employees to attend a funeral. The bereavement leave was approved the next day.

Win: PLP balance restored after management changes timesheet

When management changed a member’s timesheet without her knowledge, changing PLP days to sick leave, she contacted the URC for representational help.

Management argued that sick leave should be used before any other leave. That’s incorrect; according to our Side Letter negotiated last summer, using sick leave before PLP is at the employee’s discretion. The employee submitted corrected time sheets and management walked the corrections through the system, restoring the member’s sick time and leaving her with correct leave balances.

Know Your Rights! There’s a fully-searchable version of our agreement with the State available online at contract.seiu1000.org