Unit 15 includes civil service custodians who clean various state
buildings, laundry workers, supervising cooks, and food services
workers in the prisons and other state institutions.
Our fight for economic justice continues as we set the stage for contract negotiations.
On February 27, our GeoPay Task Force presented the acting director of CalHR and a team of state representatives with an in-depth report recommending solutions to the economic challenges many state workers face caused by the high cost of living in the communities they live and work in throughout the state of California.
When management fails to respect our contract, to recognize
the work we do and the fair compensation we deserve, we protect
our members with professional representation and deliver
results.
On August 7th, 2018, our union met with the California Department
of Human Resources (CalHR) and California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation Department of Juvenile Justice
(CDCR DJJ) to discuss the implementation of the Cellsense
Contraband Detector program within the DJJ Facilities in the
state.
Local 1000 members are using the power of our union contract to
address a wide variety of economic factors that deeply affect
those we represent. With the support and help from members across
the state, the team is already working to build the power and
leverage we will need to be successful when we bargain our next
contract.
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:
More than 150 newly-elected and returning bargaining
representatives, members of the Statewide Bargaining Advisory
Committee (SBAC), came together on July 14-15, taking important
steps on the road to contract negotiations that will begin next
year.
Also elected was the 58-member Bargaining Unit Negotiating
Committee (BUNC)—representatives from each of the nine bargaining
units in Local 1000—the bargaining team responsible for
negotiating our new contract.
On June 15, 2018, the Bargaining Unit 15 Upward Mobility Task
Force met with the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Employment Development Department
(EDD) to discuss the departments’ upward mobility programs for
Unit 15 employees.
Garth Underwood, a Correctional Supervising Cook (CSC) in CDCR
led the team with support from Eric Murray, CSC in CDCR, Ellis
Washington, Custodian in EDD, Eric Colón, CSC in CDCR and Maria
Patterson, Chair of Unit 15.
On June 8, 2018, the Unit 15 Food Service Workers team launched
their Task Force meetings with the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the California
Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) and the Department of
Veterans Affairs (DVA).
Professional development and upward mobility are key priorities
for our union, and our members, and an innovative new Information
Technology (IT) Apprenticeship Program offers Sacramento-area
members an opportunity to improve their state careers.
Our union leaders have established a Joint Committee with the
state to preserve and protect members’ rights during the upcoming
restructuring at the Board of Equalization (BOE).
After the passage of the Taxpayer Transparency and Fairness Act
of 2017, the state reorganized BOE into separate entities:
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), and
BOE. In 2018 the Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) will be established.
Our union met with representatives from the California Department
of Human Resources (CalHR), the California Department of Tax and
Fee Administration (CDTFA) and the Government Operations Agency
(GovOps) to kick off the Joint Labor Management Committee that
will address the recent restructure of the Board of Equalization
(BOE).
Our Unit 15 members are launching a Custodian Task Force to
improve working conditions and secure the proper equipment and
chemicals to do their jobs.
The Task Force is just one of the wins our Unit 15 Bargaining
Team achieved during the last round of contract negotiations.
Custodians in four different state agencies— Department of
General Services (DGS), Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA),
Department of State Hospitals (DSH) and the California
Prison Industry Authority (CalPIA)—will participate in and
benefit from the effort.
2016 was a historic year for our members, our union and all
Californians. We came together to fight for a contract we can all
be proud of and nearly went on strike for the first time in 44
years.
As a result, we won the largest labor contract ever negotiated
with the state, and we did it by standing together in our union.
You can view our contract here.
Starting August 1, we’re receiving our first paycheck reflecting
our 4% general salary increase—one of the many outcomes that we
won in contract negotiations.
SEIU Local 1000 Establishes a Joint Committee with CalHR and the
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to Ensure
that Member Rights and Working Conditions are Maintained During
the Restructure
Our union negotiated with the state to establish a committee to
identify and make recommendations on the impacts that will result
from the restructure of the Board of Equalization. With the
passage of the Taxpayer Transparency and Fairness Act of 2017,
the state is reorganizing the Board of Equalization into three
separate entities – the Board of Equalization (BOE), the
As you may know, one of our big gains we made through bargaining
involves geographic task force, which will look at how workers
who do the same job and work in high cost-of-living regions are
compensated.
The State and our Union will participate in a task force to
evaluate how the cost of living in certain areas creates
recruiting and retention problems for certain state jobs.
We are looking for members to participate in the Geographic
Compensation Work Group who are deeply connected and have direct
experience dealing with this issue. Are you interested?
SEIU Local 1000 Met with the State to Negotiate Impacts of the
“Lift and Shift” on the Psychiatric Programs at Vacaville,
Stockton and Salinas
On June 5, 2017, SEIU Local 1000 met with representatives from
the Department of State Hospitals (DSH), California Correctional
Health Care Services (CCHCS), California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the California
Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to negotiate the impacts of
the transfer of the Psychiatric Programs from DSH to CDCR and
CCHCS at Salinas Valley State Prison – Salinas, California
Medical Facilit
Governor Jerry Brown today signed Senate Bill 28 (Pan), the bill
authorizing the Memorandum of Understanding between the state and
SEIU Local 1000, our union representing 96,000 employees, about
40% of the state’s workforce.
The deal was reached between the state and Local 1000 on Dec. 3,
2016, after eight months at the bargaining table and just two
days before an impending strike.
In a big step forward, our Tentative Agreement (Senate Bill 28)
cleared the Senate on Feb. 17 with a 26-7 vote.
Our TA cleared two previous hurdles earlier in February by being
approved by two Senate committees.
The bill now moves to the Assembly. SB 28 will first be heard in
the Assembly Budget committee on March 2 upon adjournment of the
Assembly floor hearing that day. The bill will be voted on by the
Assembly floor at a future date, then on to the governor’s desk
for his signature.
Our Tentative Agreement cleared two hurdles this week as it
makes its way through the Legislature and closer to the
Governor’s desk.
Vice President for Bargaining Margarita Maldonado testified
before two Senate committees in support of our agreement, and
both committees voted to move the TA forward.
Speaking on Feb. 6, Maldonado told the Senate Public Employees
and Retirement Committee that we represent about 40% of
California’s total state employees and provide a broad range of
valuable services to California and our communities.
After nearly eight months of negotiations, we have reached a tentative agreement with the state, early Saturday morning, on a contract we can all be proud of.
Below is a basic overview of what we won on compensation. This overview does not include any information on the non-economic improvements that were agreed upon, or how we plan on addressing some of the concerns we raised about the state’s conduct during bargaining. As we work to finalize and compile all of the tentative agreement we will send you additional details.
We have been in negotiations with the state for six months and
have reached agreement on many items. Our intention is to
continue to negotiate in good faith on all remaining terms.
However, we have not yet reached agreement on a livable wage
that values our work and respects the services we provide to all
Californians.
Local 1000 members provide valuable services to the state of
California and our communities. We believe everyone who works
hard for a living should be able to provide for their families.
Our bargaining team met with the state for the first time in
three months and ended the week frustrated by a continued lack of
movement by the state on key issues.
Earlier in the week, our team presented eye-opening information
illustrating the gender pay gap in state civil service. Our union
is 66% women and 34% men. The seven unions the state has reached
agreement with, overwhelmingly comprised of men, are paid a
staggering 43% more than Local 1000 members.
Our bargaining team worked hard today with the state’s
negotiators to achieve a common understanding of the state’s
Civil Service Improvement (CSI) initiative – a broad-based
strategy to reform civil service employment, including
recruitment, training, and a much-needed revamp of outdated
classification specifications.
Our team is working to solve some deep frustration with the
state’s slow progress and the lack of involvement with our union
to create a real plan with real timelines.
Our bargaining team met with state negotiators today for a
detailed discussion about the cost of retiree health care – one
of the key issues remaining to be settled as we work for a
contract we can all be proud of.
“We’re challenging the assumptions the state is using to
calculate the costs of this benefit and the share our members
will be asked to pay,” said Yvonne R. Walker, Local 1000
President.
Boosted by the actions in our workplaces over the last few weeks,
our bargaining team returned to the table today with state
negotiators and called for a pay raise that respects the valuable
services we provide to all Californians.
We reminded the state that in the months since we last bargained,
we heard from thousands of members who said at town halls and in
surveys that the state’s offer doesn’t recognize our hard work;
that working families shouldn’t have to live paycheck to
paycheck.
As we continue to take actions in support of a strong contract,
we are still fully protected by our existing contract. Each of
our hard-earned rights, achieved in past negotiations, is still
in force.
Our stewards are still providing real representation to enforce
our hard-earned rights. And as we show our strength and pledge
our support to take all Local 1000 authorized actions, management
will threaten and try to intimidate us in an effort to weaken our
cause. We’re not falling for it.
I’m writing to you with a very important message about contract
negotiations.
During our July 30 executive session, our SEIU Local 1000 Board
of Directors voted unanimously to authorize a statewide
membership vote on any and all concerted actions, up to and
including a strike, in support of bargaining our contract.
In short, we are exploring every option available to win a
contract we can all be proud of.
After three months of bargaining in good faith, our negotiations
with the state have reached a crossroads. In an era of healthy
state finances, our bargaining team feels that the state’s offer
does not meet the priorities that you shared with us through town
halls and bargaining surveys.
Beginning Friday July 8, we’ll be holding a series of town
halls up and down the state where members will hear the details
of the state’s offer and have an opportunity to share their
thoughts and opinions.
Your actions are working and making the difference at the
bargaining table!
After CalHR Director Richard Gillihan insulted us and said we
were only worth a 10% increase over four years and a
3.5% contribution to retiree healthcare, you stepped up the
pressure and took immediate action. We responded the next day by
holding worksite actions up and down the state and flooding
Gillihan’s phone with the message that we are worth MORE than 10%
and we will not stop until we get a great contract.
It worked. Our collective action pushed the state.
Today was a huge day for the Unit 15 bargaining team; we reached
agreement on five proposals that will have a significant impact
on our Unit 15 members:
Post and bid: our biggest win today, affecting members in 8
different departments. The new language ensures a fair process
for post and bid by preventing departments from changing
previously awarded posts unilaterally.
Our Unit 15 bargaining team went to the bargaining table today
and made significant progress in our bid to protect and expand
the rights of our members.
In a productive day of negotiations, our Local 1000 bargaining
team made significant advances Saturday, moving more of our
members’ priorities into the contract and fine-tuning proposals
to maximize our rights and protections.
In a special bargaining session with the state today we won a
huge advance for our members who work at the State Special
Schools and Diagnostic Centers.
We signed a tentative agreement that allows 10-month employees to
accrue and schedule their time off in the same manner as other
state employees—at their discretion, and without having to use
leaves to reach their obligation to a certain number of work
hours over the 10-month period.
Our Local 1000 bargaining team returned to the master table today
for the first time after thousands of members gathered Wednesday
at the state capitol to rally for a great contract.
We met with the state briefly to review and understand the scores
of proposals previously presented by Local 1000, and still
requiring a response from state negotiators.
The day after our rally–with thousands of participants–shook
the Capitol and put the state on notice that we will not roll
over, the Unit 15 bargaining team went to the table to protect
and enhance the rights of our members.
In complete disregard for the important work that we do and the
vital services we provide to California, the state today flat-out
rejected our salary proposals.
Your Unit 15 bargaining team returned to negotiations with the
state today and we continued to move closer to final agreements
on the issues our members have identified as top priorities.
Significant progress was made by signing off on 21 different
sections of our existing contract, language that protects and
preserves our hard-won rights for Unit 15 members, clearing the
way for us to focus on issues that still remain in contention.
Unit 21’s bargaining team went to the table today before breaking
until the first week in June. Our team made sure to let the
state’s team see our commitment to work together for constructive
solutions and our resolve to hold firm for what our members need.
The Unit 15 bargaining team went to the table today to continue
negotiations with the state over issues our members would like to
see addressed in the new contract. Today’s session—the last until
we reconvene in early June—allowed us to set a tone as both sides
take time to consider the proposals.
Our team continued to demonstrate solidarity, our willingness to
work together for constructive solutions and our resolve to hold
firm for what our members need.
The Local 1000 bargaining team met today in a special bargaining
session with the state to continue discussions on a proposal we
gave them at an earlier bargaining session.
The proposal would affect those members working at CDE’s State
Special Schools and Diagnostic Centers on a ten-month agreement,
enabling them to accrue and use leave time the same as other
state employees.
After a month of working through the themes of working
conditions, health and safety, leaves and professional
development, your bargaining team spent this week focusing on
issues of compensation. In addition to asking for a 22 percent
across-the-board raise for all the state workers we represent,
our individual units also pressed the state on compensation
issues that affect their members, such as classification
adjustments and differentials.
Unit 15’s bargaining team went to the table and continued its
work to secure improvements in post and bid, scheduling, uniforms
and safety footwear issues, as we prepare to move into larger
discussions of compensation.
Unit 15’s bargaining team came to the table today to have an open
discussion with the state about ensuring our members have full
access to opportunities for training and advancement in their
jobs.
The team expressed our members’ frustration in accessing the
tools and resources that are available for professional
development. We also made clear that, after working through a
Joint Labor Management Committee for three years, we need the
state to commit to upward mobility for Unit 15 members.
Local 1000’s Unit 15 bargaining team met with state negotiators
today, representing the interests of our members who are Allied
Service Workers.
The health and safety of our members is a focus this week – it’s
one priority we identified through the feedback we received at
bargaining town halls and thousands of bargaining surveys. Our
other priorities for this contract are workplace conditions,
leaves, professional development, and compensation
Local 1000’s Unit 15 bargaining team met with state negotiators
for the first time today, representing the interests of the
Allied Service Workers we represent.
The team shared their diverse backgrounds and deep job experience
with the state’s negotiators, describing the work they do to keep
California moving forward, healthy and strong.
Local 1000’s bargaining team met with the state today in our
first day of contract negotiations – backed by thousands of our
members who “purpled up” and participated in worksite actions up
and down the state in support of a great contract.
Bargaining with the state is set to begin on April 13th.
Our bargaining team is preparing for negotiations,
supported by Local 1000’s Research, Field and Contract
Departments, to gather input from members, organize worksite
meetings and actions, set priorities, craft language and develop
strategies to put pressure on the state to take the union’s
demands seriously.
The team is made up of elected members from each of the nine
bargaining units Local 1000 represents.
As we prepare for 2016 Contract Negotiations, state employees all
over California are getting ready to step into the arena and
fight for a good contract. We will need an active and
informed membership to do battle at the bargaining table, at the
ballot box, and in the legislative budget battles to fund state
services.
This is no time to sit on the sidelines. It’s Our
Union. Our Union. Our Future.
Local 1000 leveraged our collective power to get relief for
members at the State Special Schools who were struggling with
delays in State Special Schools Benefit (SSSB) funds. SSSB funds
are a type of unemployment benefit for employees of the State
Special Schools run by the California Department of Education
(CDE).
Local 1000 members and staff met several times over the past
eight months with department representatives. The union forced
management to identify what was causing delays and to find ways
to minimize those delays.
Local 1000 has launched its 2016 contract campaign with these
words from President Yvonne R. Walker: “Our contract will be
about the strength and the power of our members to win something
amazing.”
Speaking to members statewide on a conference call for Local 1000
stewards and hundreds more who heard the call at listening
parties, Walker looked forward to the upcoming negotiations
feeling confident about the preparation that’s gone before.
A Local 1000 member has had his 5% annual Merit Salary Adjustment
restored after it was denied in June of 2015. Local 1000’s Union
Resource Center (URC) filed a grievance, arguing the denial was
unreasonable after management failed to establish any performance
problems.
The Unit 15 Upward Mobility Team met September 24 with the
state’s representatives to discuss Upward Mobility
programs. Jesse Aranda (DSH) led the table, alongside Garth
Underwood (CDCR), Shavone Brown (DGS), Ellis Washington (EDD) and
Contract Department staff.
The union and the state continued to identify existing
state resources for Upward Mobility programs in DSH, DGS, EDD,
CDCR and DDS. The Union and the state agreed to produce a
comprehensive toolkit that pulls together the resources and
information that the team has identified during these meetings.
The movement for dignity and solidarity in Bargaining Unit 15 is
growing at Napa State Hospital. A large worksite action organized
by custodians there is calling public attention to unsafe
conditions and forcing management to the table to address a
variety of worker concerns.
Organizing by our members at the Yountville Veteran’s Home is
changing a culture of disrespect and abuse there and sending a
message to other worksites in Bargaining Unit 15 that solidarity
works and that we are always stronger together.
Our 63-member Bargaining Unit Negotiating Council (BUNC) recently
spent three days training intensively for upcoming contract
negotiations. Local 1000’s contract expires July 1, 2016 – just
ten months from now.
Bargaining strategies and tactics were key topics, along with
discussions about member engagement. The focus: honing the skills
necessary to negotiate a fair contract that protects our
hard-earned rights from previous contracts while improving our
wages, working conditions and benefits.
On July 23, the Unit 15 Upward Mobility Team met with the state’s
representatives in a Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) as
part of a continuing dialogue about gaps in the various
departments’ upward mobility programs.
Along with Chair Jesse Aranda (DSH), the team is comprised of
Garth Underwood (CDCR), Shavone Brown (DGS) and Ellis Washington
(EDD), as well as staff from Local 1000’s contract department.
Nearly 200 bargaining representatives from across the state voted
this weekend to elect Local 1000’s 63-member Bargaining Unit
Negotiating Council (BUNC). These member activists and leaders
will be responsible for negotiating the successor contract. The
current contract expires July 1 of 2016.
Representatives from each of the nine state bargaining units met
Saturday afternoon and evening to elect their bargaining teams.
On May 27th, the Unit 15 Statewide Upward Mobility Team met with
representatives from DSH, EDD, CDCR and DDS to continue working
on improving members’ access to the state’s upward mobility
resources. The team included Jesse Aranda (DSH), Garth
Underwood (CDCR), Shavone Brown (DGS), Rueben Cooley Jr. (CDCR),
Ellis Washington (EDD) and Contract Department staff.
Unit 15 custodians are wearing hats again at three state office
buildings after an arbitrator ruled a DGS “no-hat” directive
“overly broad and unreasonable.”
The Correctional Supervising Cooks (CSC) task force met with CDCR
management on April 17, 2015, to discuss the persistent problems
around retention and recruitment of that classification. The
meeting was very fruitful and both sides offered potential
solutions to stabilize the classification and reduce the
statewide vacancy problems.
Alfredo Cortez is a custodian and steward at DGS in San Diego. On
April 15, he took a stand in solidarity with all workers when he
participated in the National Day of Action for $15 and a Union
because, as he says, “Under $15 an hour is never a living wage in
the city of San Diego.”
Building power in the community, facing challenges and developing
union leaders were key themes of last week’s meeting of the
Statewide Bargaining Advisory Council (SBAC) in Southern
California.
Nearly 200 elected bargaining representatives from up and down
California—including the 60-plus members who negotiate our
contract with the state—meet three times each year to develop
strategies for bargaining and to understand and respond to issues
that affect our lives at work and at home.
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.
After years of experiencing high turnover rates in CDCR’s
Correctional Supervising Cook (CSC) classification and losing
talented workers to other professions, members in Unit 15 have
reached an agreement with CDCR to address the turnover issue.
Supervising cooks in facilities across the state launched a task
force in December and will meet with CDCR management four times
over the next 12 months. These meetings will be an opportunity
for the CSC Task Force to present proposals aimed at promoting
the hiring and retention of skilled and experienced CSCs.
Bargaining Unit 15 custodians in state buildings around the
Capitol have organized to achieve a string of recent improvements
in working conditions through their Joint Labor Management
Committee (JLMC).
“We started the committee last year, and we’ve made real progress
in the last several months,” said Local 1000 committee member
Shavone Brown, a custodian in the state treasurer’s office. “We
find that the JLMC is an effective way to work with management
because it’s less adversarial.”
More than two hundred custodians working in the Department of
General Services (DGS) will each receive $300 in a settlement
that represents a victory for Unit 15 workers who are required to
wear a uniform at work. The settlement covers “laundering and
associated expenses” after several DGS custodians in southern
California filed grievances complaining that the uniforms that
they were handing over to the department for washing were coming
back dingy and soiled. The cost of rewashing their uniforms –at
home–began to add up.
On September 23, 2014, the Local 1000 negotiating team came to an
agreement with CalHR and California Correctional Health Care
Services (CCHCS) regarding the 2014 Phase 3 Staff Reductions.
Some of the highlights of the agreement include:
California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) has mailed
more than 600 State Restriction of Appointment (SROA) letters to
Local 1000 members in seven of our nine bargaining units in
anticipation of just over 200 planned layoffs scheduled to occur
on December 1, 2015.
The majority of the layoffs affect bargaining units 17 and 20;
the other affected bargaining units are 1, 3, 4, 11, and 15.
Local 1000’s bargaining team signed the first tentative agreement
of our new contract at the master table today, one that provides
a huge advance in our fight against outsourcing.
Nearly all Local 1000-representedworkers at the State
Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) will receive a 2 percent
performance award later this year thanks to an
agreement Local 1000 negotiated with management at the
state-owned worker’s compensation insurer.
Contract implementation and fighting for working families were
the focus of a recent gathering of Local 1000’s Statewide
Bargaining Advisory Council – held Feb. 8 and 9 in Manhattan
Beach. More than two hundred elected Local 1000 members attended
– our unit bargaining teams, along with other District Bargaining
Unit Representatives (DBURs) and Classification Bargaining Unit
Representatives (CBURs).
Contract implementation and fighting for working families were
the focus of a recent gathering of Local 1000’s Statewide
Bargaining Advisory Council – held Feb. 8 and 9 in Manhattan
Beach. More than two hundred elected Local 1000 members attended
– our unit bargaining teams, along with other District Bargaining
Unit Representatives (DBURs) and Classification Bargaining Unit
Representatives (CBURs).
Bargaining Unit 15 representatives met with the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), California
Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) and the California
Prison Industry Authority (CalPIA) to discuss the process of
CalPIA assuming hiring authority for the classification of
custodian (CF).
A new Injury and Illness Prevention Program – developed with
input from Local 1000 – will roll out over the next year at Napa
State Hospital (NSH). Designed to improve the safety and
well-being of NSH employees, the new program features education
and training, risk assessments, safety inspections, comprehensive
reporting and an emergency response and action plan.
It is that time of the year again! The Unit 15 2014 Timebooks
(pocket calendars) are in production and will be mailed to the
DBURs (district bargaining unit representatves) or a key
leader/activist at your worksite very soon. Be sure to look
out for them in the next couple of weeks.
