Unit 1: Professional Administrative, Financial and Staff services

After a long day at the bargaining table on Wednesday, August 7^th, 2019, the Unit continued to negotiate with the state over important workload and classification issues for unit members as we work toward a contract that creates a California for All.

Local 1000’s Unit 1 bargaining team met with state negotiators on Monday, July 29, 2019 and signed 26 tentative agreements. This includes language that continues Local 1000’s commitment to ensuring the Employment Development Department (EDD) continues to offer full-time employment to workers rather than over relying on Permanent Intermittent employment when inappropriate.

On Monday Unit 1 agreed to language that:

Our Unit 1 bargaining team, which includes professional, administrative, staff and financial  occupations, met with state negotiators on Monday, July 8, to tell their own stories about the work that they do and the value it brings to the residents of California each and every day.  

SEIU Local 1000 met and conferred with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on August 29, 2018 to continue negotiations regarding the impacts of the implementation of the RealID program. The primary focus of the discussions was around the increased hours and locations of operations at DMV field offices.

Due to new IRS rules regarding fingerprinting and background checks, the Employment Development Department (EDD) implemented new policies impacting about 5500+ of our members. Local 1000 met multiple times with EDD and the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to ensure the implementation was not overly broad and did not impact any of our members unnecessarily.

Some of the major results of our team’s negotiations include the following:

On May 30, 2018, SEIU Local 1000 met with the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to discuss the proposed consolidation of the Research Analyst, Research Program Specialist, Operations Research Specialist and Tax Research Specialist Series.  This proposed consolidation will reduce the current 37 duplicative parenthetical classifications down to 7 generalized classifications.  The consolidation is part of the Governor’s Civil Service Improvement (CSI) Project to reduce the number of existing classifications.

Due to new IRS rules regarding fingerprinting and background checks, the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) implemented new policies impacting about 400+ of our members. SEIU Local 1000 met multiple times with DCSS and the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to ensure the department’s implementation was not overly broad and they did not impact any of our members unnecessarily.

Some of the major details from your team’s negotiations include the following:

Highlights:

• Effective date: July 1, 2016
• Amount: Up to $6,000
  • $250 is accrued for all employees that meet the criteria each full quarter during the fiscal year 2016/2017
  • $500 is accrued for all employees that meet the criteria each full quarter effective July 1, 2017 until separation from DDS.
• Payout:
  • There will be two payouts of the retention stipend:
    • January 2018 or the first month following the 50% decr

On March 1, 2017, the Employment Development Department, Unemployment Insurance Division will offer the 68 most senior Permanent Intermittent (PI) employees conversion to full time status. If an employee rejects the opportunity to convert, the department will move to the next most senior PI.

This conversion will be immediate unless the impacted employee elects to delay the date to July 1, 2017, because they are enrolled in the Flex Cash Option for health and/or dental benefits, and they do not want to forfeit that benefit.

On March 25, 2016 committee members from ten (10) Local 1000 impacted classifications, members of the Unit 1 Bargaining Team and representatives from CalHR and multiple departments met to finalize their report on recommended solutions to the recruitment and retention problems those classifications currently face. These recommendations will be presented to Richard Gillihan, Director of CalHR, and ultimately to the State Administration.

A Bargaining Unit One member received a $25,000 lump-sum settlement in arbitration after a grievance filed with the support of Local 1000 members and staff was denied at every level. The member, a Health Program Specialist I at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), was being denied extra work assignments—Duty Officer Positions–that were rightfully his due to seniority. 

On November 20 and 24 teams representing the District Sales Representatives (DSR), Personnel Specialists, Tax Auditors, Workers Compensations Claims Adjusters (WCCA) and Financial Institution Examiners (FIE) series met with the California Human Resources Department (CalHR) under Article 5.17.1 to discuss recruitment and retention problems the series is encountering. Each of these teams were comprised of member leaders from the classification series and BUNC representatives.

Local 1000 met with CalPERS management on October 26 to discuss changes to the CalPERS Actuarial Study Program.  This program provides support for employees in the Actuarial Office who are preparing to take their certification exams. Local 1000’s team included Stuart Bennett (Unit 1 DBUR and Senior Pension Actuary), Latreece Smith (President of DLC 781), Tony Cuny (CalPERS Actuarial Assistant) and Wandra Pitts (Vice President of DLC 781).

On August 24th and 25th a team representing Correctional Case Records Analysts (CCRAs) met in Sacramento to negotiate with the state regarding the Recruitment and Retention issues they were currently experiencing.

The teams consisted of the following members:
Karen Devoll, CDCR, Sierra Conservation Center
Michelle Pantages, CDCR, Out of State Bed Unit
Gwendolyn Crawford, CDCR, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison
Cathy Reabold, DSH, Coalinga State Hospital.

When Job Steward Lonnie “Tony” Owens attended a Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) meeting last year, he came prepared to present management with the concerns of his CalPERS coworkers in the Information Technology Services Branch (ITSB).

What he provided was perspective regarding the staff’s frustration with the department’s lack of communication concerning their critical skills and training. That vacuum of communication too often leads to work being outsourced that could have been done by existing state staff.

Swift and decisive action by Local 1000’s legal department shut down a hostile manager’s suppression of our members’ right to conduct union activities at Department of Social Services (DSS). The union’s determination to not let bullying behavior stand forced DSS to agree to completely withdraw spurious charges against our members. 

“We’ll do whatever it takes to get these kinds of bogus adverse actions removed,” said Tamekia N. Robinson, vice president for organizing/representation. “There’s no way we will tolerate bullying of our stewards.”

Systems and Work Place Privacy Policy

This week, Local 1000 and CalPERS worked together to clarify the language in CalPERS’ Systems and Work Place Privacy policy, in order to make sure that it was no more expansive than necessary . The Union was represented by Brenda Modkins, Bargaining Unit 1 chair, Karen Jefferies, a Unit 4 Bargaining Unit Negotiating Committee member, Latreece Smith, the president of DLC 781 and CalPERS representative and the contract department staff. 

By enforcing our 2013 contract, a determined group of stewards has forced their division of the Department of Social Services (DSS) to accept joint labor management committees (JLMC) statewide and at all of its regional offices.

Local 1000 fought for JLMCs through a stewards’ grievance, affirmed by CalHR in a March 10 decision entitling 1200 DSS employees in the Disability Determination Service Division (DDSD) to actively participate in workplace change.

Hannah Konnoff grew up with a mother who was active in the civil rights movement, a feminist and an anti-war protester. Although she had been raised to act on her values, life compelled Konnoff to put her activism on the back burner.

“I just kind of got wrapped up in trying to survive,” she said.

Thanks to an agreement negotiated by Local 1000, nearly all represented workers at the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) will receive a 2.4 percent performance award this year. Announced on February 20, the annual award will go to everyone who is qualified to receive it.

The Unit 1 bargaining team – representing Professional Administrative, Financial and Staff Services – presented a series of powerful witnesses to support our proposal to address equity adjustments for Unit 1 classifications.

The presentation included eight witnesses representing different classifications or department. 

Today, Local 1000 returned to the negotiating table to meet with representatives from the state and continue bargaining for our new contract. The state spent the last two weeks reviewing the proposals we gave them in April – 29 Master Table proposals affecting all Local-1000 represented employees, and 50 different proposals affecting our nine individual bargaining units.

The DMV reclassification team is on schedule to finish their work in Spring 2013.
Next steps of the reclassification effort were discussed during a meeting held with the Local 1000 reclassification team, DMV management and the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) on August 17. Currently, CalHR is reviewing the Unit 1 and Unit 4 job classification changes as proposed by the Local 1000 DMV reclassification team and DMV. 

On Thursday, September 20, over 80 Sacramento members and staff found a festive way to conduct some serious business – educate voters on the dangers of Proposition 32.
 
Unit 1 member organizer Dee Dee Munson and Unit 4 member organizer Lorraine Dewitt created a night of training, raffles, poster-making and all around good fun to get more members politically involved.
 

MyCalPays begins pilot testing at the State Controller’s Office

As the State Controller’s Office (SCO) works to overhaul the state’s antiquated payroll system, Local 1000’s team has been involved at every step to monitor their progress and mitigate its impact on state workers. The new system is called MyCalPays and will not only affect Unit 1 employees who process payroll, but all state employees, who will eventually have to transition to the new system.

Unit 1 member combats outsourcing with professionalism and pride

Once a contract employee with the state, Mike Bonner now partners with Local 1000 to help put a stop to the outsourcing of bargaining unit work. Not only does Mike lend his unique expertise to help identify contracts that cost the state unnecessarily, he trains other Local 1000 members to help do the same. During his time as a contract employee, he saw a great amount of waste and instances of bargaining unit work being done by contractors and he knew it had to change.

Are student assistants or non-mission critical annuitants still performing the work of Local 1000 members in your office?

Bullying has always been a problem in the workplace, and Local 1000 has been taking steps to help members understand what it is and how to address it. 

Marie Harder, Vice Chair of Unit 1, has been busy giving presentations in 12 different departments on “abuse in the workplace.”  She covers definitions of discrimination under the Civil Rights Act, what constitutes workplace violence, what is bullying, and protections in our contract and in the law.  

Because of the lobbying strength of our members, the Board of Equalization (BOE) announced Tuesday it has shelved a proposal to outsource some accounts receivable collections to a private firm.

The original proposal called for a portion of uncollected accounts receivable to be outsourced to an undisclosed private vendor. Ever since this came to light, Local 1000 members and staff have pressured BOE to drop the proposal because this type of outsourcing doesn’t save money and private collection agencies are less accountable.

Surplus letters are now available for State Fund employees who are scheduled to relocate in 2012. Employees impacted by the relocation can request a surplus letter from SCIF Human Resources.

Surplus letters give you priority hiring status. Unlike SROA status, you are not notified of vacancies by hiring agencies and must seek out job opportunities on your own.

Important dates for you to know:

May 15-31:
Time period to cash out 80 hours of accrued time if you’re relocating more than 35 miles (Article 13).

June 1:

The State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) has announced that layoffs will take place, affecting employees throughout the state

“It’s outrageous that we are learning about this now – just after completing a battle over jobs and work locations at State Fund,” said Margarita Maldonado, Local 1000 vice president for bargaining. “It’s clear that State Fund’s business model isn’t working and that management saw these layoffs coming, even when we were fighting to mitigate the effects of downsizing earlier this year.”

Local 1000 has filed a grievance to stop the Employment Development Department’s (EDD) mandate that employees work outside their prescribed shifts without pay. Although “set-up and shutdown time” is paid work time under our contract, EDD has directed employees to work before and after their assigned start and end times.

Twenty-four Unit 1 members participated in a “contract review marathon” on Jan. 7 and 8 in Sacramento. The goal of the review is to identify superfluous outsourcing contracts to defend against State Personnel Board (SPB) challenges, Joint Labor Management Committees (JLMCs), and provide information to legislative committees. Fifty-two contracts were analyzed and 87 were targeted for additional analysis.
Interesting findings:

Local 1000 represents nine different bargaining units and over 95,000 state employees. The power of these numbers enables us to make workplace improvements that make life better for everyone.

This is a summary of the tentative agreement for Unit 1. To learn more about all tentative agreements, visit the Contract Ratification page.

Establish JLMCs (Joint Labor Management Committees) on workload for:

The last straw for the thirty correctional case records analysts and technicians working at Case Records North in Rancho Cordova was this outrageous remark by a CDCR manager: “If you’re having stress at work, it’s because you’re having problems at home. Stop taking your home-problems to work.”
An overwhelming majority of employees did a “Vote of No Confidence” petition and marched in on a new head manager last month. Employees demanded a Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) to focus on workload issues and management harassment. The JLMC was agreed to on the spot.

A major organizational priority this summer is political activism. Unit 1 members are committed to electing local and statewide candidates who support public services – and then hold them accountable. The November election is coming up and we need even more volunteers to ensure the right candidates win. If you can help, contact unit1@seiu1000.org.
Here is what’s been happening:

After pressure by Local 1000, the Employment Development Department (EDD) converted 24 permanent intermittent positions to full-time positions last month, bringing the total number of conversions to 630 over the past five years.
Local 1000 has successfully argued that EDD was understaffed even before the economic recession began in 2008 and the unemployment rate spiked above 12 percent, which forced the department to hire more than 1,000 people.

The first ever Local 1000 IT Professionals Conference was held the weekend of April 17 in downtown Sacramento. IT professionals were able to network, get hands-on training and learn about trends in a fast-changing industry.

“We hope this conference will set the stage for future events that will focus on the professional needs of the state’s IT workforce and other occupational groups within Unit 1,” commented Margarita Maldonado, chair of Bargaining Unit 1 and an associate information systems analyst at the Department of Justice.
Conference workshops included:

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is proposing to transfer assigned staff vehicles to an office car pool and reduce telework options for employees who investigate allegations of patient abuse. 
The union’s concern is that these administrative changes will make it more difficult for employees to efficiently handle high caseloads and actually reduce services to the public.

For more information, contact Paul Romero, health facility evaluator II, at paul.romero@cdph.ca.gov.

Members back effort to improve service during tough times

Local 1000 is sponsoring new legislation which would allow out-of-work Californians much needed, in-person assistance with their unemployment claims.

AB 1827 addresses gaps in current law, and would require the Employment Development Department (EDD) to assign one UI representative to each of at least 50 one-stop and career centers.

An SEIU-sponsored bill would improve the delivery of services to the unemployed. AB 1827, which has been introduced by Assembly Members Juan Arambula (Ind-Fresno) and Jose Solario (D-Anaheim), would amend the Unemployment Insurance Code to require California to have available walk-in unemployment insurance (UI) services, provided by current UI-funded and fully-trained workers in regional one-stop centers.
For more information visit Politics & Legislation >> Local 1000-backed legislation.

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.

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.

In her decision, SPB Executive Officer Suzanne Ambrose wrote:
 

Local 1000 met with PERS management regarding revisions to the current gift policy. The new policy would prohibit gifts of any value to PERS staff that are in “designated positions” under the Political Reform Act. 
The Fair Political Practices Commission currently allows gifts of $10 or less to not be reported. The new policy has been implemented for non-represented staff, but is on-hold for Local 1000 bargaining units.