Unit 20: Medical and Social Services Specialists

Every DSH facility is entitled to have a Health and Safety Committee, according to our MOU (contract), Section 10.2. Because of this, members of our Union are working hard to ensure Health and Safety Committees exist and are successful at each facility.

On June 16, 2021, a team of SEIU Local 1000 Bargaining Unit 20 member leaders negotiated an agreement with CalHR and CCHCS to implement an 11.25% raise for Medical Assistants (MAs). SEIU Local 1000 received a notice from CalHR proposing this increase for MAs due to the recruitment and retention struggles throughout the state. Click here to see the agreement.

On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, SEIU Local 1000 met with the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to meet and confer over DSH’s application for a permanent exemption to the California Standards for Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare, which mandates guidelines for reporting to the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) regarding workplace violence incidences.

Our Union met with California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) to continue discussing the formation and implementation of an Employee Health Team (EHT) at each institution throughout the state.

Some of the major details from the Meet-and-Confer include:

CCHCS was asked to explain the overall, general status of the Employee Health program and any other relevant information, and they responded with the following updates:

On October 13, 2020, our Union met with California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) to continue discussing the formation and implementation of an Employee Health Team (EHT) at each institution throughout the state.

Some of the major details from the meet and confer include:

1) Two Additional New Notices

Recently, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) sent our Union two new notices of changes in working conditions:

On August 25, 2020, our Union was notified by members that an email from Heidi Steinecker was sent to staff directing HFENs to sign a new duty statement.  Our Union immediately contacted CDPH Labor Relations informing them that we are still in the meet and confer process and our Union had not agreed to any duty statement. We also demanded that the duty statement be withdrawn immediately.

Learn about how California’s Aerosol Transmissible Disease (ATD) standard protects us from the novel COVID-19 Virus.

In 2009, a new California occupational health standard was adopted to protect nurses and other healthcare workers from infectious agents such as tuberculosis, measles, and pandemic flu, as well as novel diseases such as COVID-19. The Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease (ATD) Standard is an enforceable regulation that applies in healthcare, corrections, and other high-risk environments. 

Our Unit 20 bargaining team continued its efforts to bring home a good contract for its members, reaching tentative agreements (TA) on contract articles that improved the scheduling rights of our members and preserved recruitment and retention differentials.

“These agreements expanded our members ability to schedule their work and to maintain the best possible work/life balance,” said Luisa Leuma, Unit 20 bargaining chair.

The TAs included:

On Wednesday, August 8^th, our Unit 20 bargaining team challenged the state to implement changes to Post and Bid, vacation scheduling, and workplace safety.   

Our bargaining teams representing Unit 17 (Registered Nurses) and Unit 20 (Medical and Social Service Specialists) met jointly with the state on Monday, August 5, 2019, to negotiate over issues impacting members in both units.

“It’s past time for mandatory overtime to be eliminated,“ said Luisa Leuma, chair of bargaining unit 20. “We’re working to improve the work/life balance of our members and to get rid of mandated overtime shifts.”

Our Unit 20 bargaining team returned to the table today with proposals that respond to key issues brought forth by our members at bargaining town halls and through member surveys.

Our Unit 20 bargaining team—representing Medical and Social Service Specialists—returned to negotiations with the state today to address a number of deeply-felt issues our members shared during bargaining Town Halls and on thousands of surveys.

Our Unit 20 bargaining team presented proposals to the state that would:

On January 25, 2019, our Union met with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) to discuss the implementation of the Contraband Interdiction Pilot Program (CIP) at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) at Corcoran.

CCHCS has recently taken additional steps to utilize the Medical Assistant (MA) classification to fill positions on provider lines in CDCR institutions. In response to a formal notice, the Union met with CCHCS leadership to discuss the department’s process to fill these positions.

Our team confirmed these positions will only be filled when a full-time, permanent LVN vacancy opens up elsewhere within the same institution.

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

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.

Bargaining leaders – Margarita Maldonado, Vice President for Bargaining, Rionna Jones, Chair of Unit 20 and Kim Cowart, Chair of Unit 17 – met with California Correctional Health Care Services’ (CCHCS) executive management to discuss the dissatisfaction of members across the state regarding their mishandling of post and bid, an ill-advised staffing model, their proposal to create a new Medical Assistant classification, the use of mandatory overtime and other chronic issues.

John Hendricks had over fifteen years of experience as a Sign Language Interpreter at the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) when he got a job at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Stockton. His experience and certifications should have put him at the top of the three available pay ranges but, due to outdated certification criteria, Hendricks was put in the lowest.

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.

Earlier this year, Local 1000 conducted a survey of LVNs and RNs asking them whether or not they were interested in allowing nursing management to conduct an early bid. The response was clear: no. Our members want us to aggressively enforce our contract, and that’s what we will do. After pressure from the union on several fronts, the Receiver and management from California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) agreed to wait until the October post and bid cycle.

On September 29, 2015, CDCR sent notice of their intent to eliminate the Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) continuing education unit reimbursement. As negotiated in our contract two of three salary ranges (Range T and U) are directly affected by RDA certification.

The reimbursement is covered by our contract agreement therefore CDCR does not have the right to unilaterally change the language we negotiated.

Local 1000 members are monitoring the implementation of a new electronic records system that will streamline health care services in state prisons. Called Electronic Health Records System (EHRS), the system will begin its rollout in October.

Members of Local 1000 working in health care on the Central Coast were honored on April 17 with the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council’s Health Care Rising Award. The honor recognized the tremendous work Local 1000 has done organizing for better working conditions and advocating for patient safety at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP), the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) and the Department of State Hospitals-Salinas Valley (DSH). The award was shared with the California Nurses Association, which has been active in other health care facilities in the region.

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.

After the Governor’s office approved the terms of the settlement with Registered Dental Assistants (RDAs) in May, a legally binding settlement agreement has been drafted and signed by the parties. Because the settlement calls for changes to our contract language, legislative approval is required. The parties are currently in the process of drafting a Side Letter agreement to submit to the Legislature for approval.

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.