The purpose of Bargaining Unit 20 is to represent the LVNs, CNAs,
Teaching Assistants, Dental Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians,
Laboratory Technologists, Physical Therapists, Counselors, and
many other medical and social service classifications working in
prisons, veteran’s homes, developmental centers, state hospitals,
special schools, and other departments for the State of
California so they operate under a fair and legal contract, and
are part of a strong member led union.
By educating, organizing and mobilizing members of Bargaining
Unit 20 in the workplace, the political arena and within the
union itself, we strive to improve the living standard and rights
of members, their families and other working people. Through
these efforts we will accomplish economic and social justice for
ourselves and others.
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.
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.
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.
On December 21st, 2018, our union met with
the California Correctional Health Care Services
(CCHCS) to discuss the implementation of the
Electronic Dental Health Records System known
as Dentrix within all 35 CDCR facilities in the state.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The State Personnel Board (SPB) recently approved the creation of
a Medical Assistant classification in state civil service. Our
Contract gives us the opportunity to meet with the state on the
salary and impacts of the new classification. We will stay
involved in the introduction of this new position to ensure a
smooth transition. To do this, we will meet with the state prior
to the employment of new Medical Assistants to ensure the new
classification is integrated into the Medical Classification
Model.
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.
Our Unit 20 bargaining team went to the table on Sunday and had a
breakthrough session in which we reached agreement on a number of
important issues that affect the lives of members in our
unit.
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.
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 20 bargaining team returned to the table today and
continued to press the state on issues related to scheduling,
professional development and working conditions.
Recognizing the importance of seniority in scheduling and the
ability to better choose which shifts our members work, our team
continued to push for improvements in Post & Bid language,
continuing to work with state negotiators to reach agreement on a
number of proposals presented earlier.
The Unit 20 bargaining team went to the table today, as we
continuing to press the state to increase compensation for our
members, both for our members and our families lives, and also to
make state work an attractive option for highly-qualified workers
in our fields. We want the state to see us as a partner in making
California an employer of choice for the best possible workforce,
and we maintain that competitive compensation is the number one
way to make that happen.
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.
I was exposed to the severe negative impact of mandatory overtime
in 2009. My husband was terminally ill with liver cancer when I
was constantly stressed with the mandates that I was subjected to
regularly.
On many occasions I had to leave my husband alone at home because
I was threatened with adverse action if I refused a mandate and
my FMLA was not honored.
To this day I get very emotional about a friend of mine and
colleague who had to resign from State Service under pressure
from the burden of mandatory overtime.
He was forced with choosing between the overwhelming pressure of
mandatory overtime being used as a regular staffing tool and the
ability to take care of his family who had a catastrophic event
change their lives. It put him in the unexpected position of
being a caregiver to his three young grandchildren, one of which
was six months old.
I’ve witnessed over and over again how the dangerous
staffing practice of mandatory overtime has devastated the family
lives of nurses.
My co-worker at Patton State Hospital decided to work the night
shift because she is a single mother of two young boys. Her
youngest son was 5 years old, starting kindergarten, and needed
someone to take him to school in the morning when management
informed her that she’d need to work mandatory overtime. She was
devastated and wondered how she’d get her son to school as she
had no family around to help.
Over the past four weeks of negotiations, our bargaining team has
presented our proposals on the themes of working conditions,
health and safety, leaves and upward mobility. All of this has
built to this week’s theme: compensation.
Unit 20 went to the table today and presented four proposals on
compensation, career mobility and leaves:
An increase in Recruitment and Retention differential for 10
different classifications at the State Special Schools.
Our Unit 20 bargaining team returned to the table today to
continue to press for improvements allowing our members better
opportunities to schedule their work and their hard-earned leaves
… only to receive a proposal that would do just the opposite.
The state presented a proposal that would significantly modify
our members’ ability to exchange shifts. The changes the state
proposed would:
Unit 20’s bargaining team came to the table today with a range of
proposals to improve a number of themes identified by their
members as priorities to ensure a better workplace and the
ability to perform their work at peak efficiency.
Those proposals included:
Post and bid scheduling for Residential Care Unit Leaders at the
Department of Veterans Affairs – affording them a benefit of
seniority in choosing work schedules.
Our Unit 20 bargaining team returned to the table today with a
focus on improving the quality of care our Medical and Social
Services Specialists provide as well as the quality of their
personal lives. We impressed on the state that working in
challenging, sometimes dangerous situations with high-need
populations requires a commitment from the state to the
well-being of our members.
Local 1000’s Unit 20 bargaining team met with state negotiators
for the first time today, representing the interests of our
members who work as Medical and Social Services Specialists.
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.
On March 30th the Little Hoover Commission unanimously voted to
adopt a report on the use of mandatory overtime at state
facilities. Local 1000 nurse leaders testified as to the
dangerous staffing practice and urged the Commissioners to adopt
the report.
“Eliminating mandatory overtime is vital to improving working
conditions for nurses across the state,” said Mary Naidoo,
Registered Nurse at California Medical Facility. “The
Commission’s report sheds light on the abuse of mandatory
overtime.”
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.
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.
Bargaining Unit 20 LVNs working at Ironwood State Prison have
been assured of safer and healthier working conditions during
prison construction after filing a grievance and ultimately
winning a settlement during arbitration.
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 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.
Last week, over 250 LVNs, RNs and Stewards from CCHCS made calls
to Statewide CNE, Cheryl Schutt, to demand that she and CCHCS act
to fix their mismanagement of the Post and Bid
Process. Thanks to all of you, our actions made an
impact: within minutes of our calls, Labor Relations called Local
1000 to find out what was going on.
We’ve got their attention. Now we need to turn up the heat to
force them to act.
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.
A dedicated group of Local 1000 members who provide lifesaving
treatment under challenging conditions are being honored this
week, along with thousands of their professional brothers and
sisters across the nation.
This week is Respiratory Care Week. Our Respiratory Therapists
work up and down the state in correctional facilities and state
hospitals and deserve thanks for their efforts to help patients
experience a healthier quality of life.
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.
Thanks to the efforts of Local 1000 members advocating for
patient safety at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP), the
long-broken emergency call light system there has been repaired.
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.
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.
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.
It’s been said that, despite the paperwork and the long hours,
nurses dispense comfort, caring and compassion … all without a
prescription.
Every year we celebrate the extraordinary work of nurses during
National Nurses Week. Nurses are the heart of our nation’s health
care system; they are the human beings who put warmth and
kindness into the sometimes impersonal world of modern medicine.
Thank you to our nurses for the care they provide to their
patients and for the care they demonstrate in their ongoing
efforts to advocate for their fellow workers.
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.
As part of Local 1000’s campaign to ban mandatory overtime for
nurses and certified nursing assistants in units 20 and 17,
members will testify before an Assembly committee on Wednesday in
support of AB 840.
Last week Local 1000’s LVN Workgroup lobbied legislators in
support of the legislation, which would eliminate mandatory
overtime for nurses and certified nursing assistants in state
prisons and mental hospitals.
Calling for greater safety in a dangerous workplace, Local 1000
members at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) took action
to get long-broken emergency call lights repaired. After their
demands for a fix went unheeded by management, they took their
concerns to Assemblymember Luis Alejo and Soledad Vice Mayor
Alejandro Chavez and marched on Soledad City Hall.
“It’s going to make a world of difference in patient care,” said
SVSP licensed vocational nurse Michael Strauss. “And patient care
is the most important thing.”
Local 1000 helped prison dental assistants win a new post and bid
schedule as part of an ongoing grievance fight that also led
to a $1.5 million settlement in 2014.
Under the new post and bid system, employees will be able to bid
on 90 percent of the shifts to be filled with only 10 percent to
be filled at the discretion of management. The bidding starts
April 1 with the new schedules to be implemented this summer for
550 dental assistants who work for the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Following a very strong member response to a survey sent by Unit
17 and Unit 20, against an early post and bid, Local 1000
aggressively enforced our contract and won our effort to protect
jobs for our nurses. After pressure from the union on several
fronts, the receiver managing California Correctional Health Care
Services (CCHCS) agreed to wait until October to open the post
and bid process, effectively shelving dangerous plans to
reallocate staff and cut overtime.
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.
On Sept. 30, Governor Jerry Brown issued a veto message for
Assembly Bill 2155, a bill that would have prohibited the unsafe
practice of mandatory overtime in state facilities.
Local 1000 remains committed to fighting the use of mandatory
overtime to ensure greater safety for workers, patients and the
community at large.
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:
AB 2155—the Local 1000-sponsored bill that would put an end to
the dangerous practice of mandatory overtime for public sector
nurses—has passed the Senate and Assembly, and has now moved to
the desk of Governor Jerry Brown for his approval.
As the bill awaits the governor’s decision, Local 1000 member
leaders are preparing to deliver nearly 3,000 commitment cards
signed by Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Vocational Nurses
(LVNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) from throughout
the state.
Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) in Bargaining Unit 20 have
formed a work group (the LVN Workgroup) to create a more positive
environment in the workplace where LVNs feel valued for their
skills as well as appreciated and rewarded for the work they do.
The LVN Workgroup is working to organize and engage as many LVN
leaders as possible. The goals of the campaign are to create a
work environment where LVNs feel appreciated, rewarded, and
valued for the skills they possess as a nurse.
Local 1000’s Unit 20 Classification Study Committee has selected
four classifications for review by the California Department of
Human Resources (CalHR). The committee made the selection by
utilizing a classification survey and results of salary studies
conducted by Local 1000 researchers.
Our contract article 14.21.20, Classification Studies affords
Bargaining Unit 20 the opportunity to propose four
classifications, each year, for review.
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.
On Friday, August 15, the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation (CDCR) informed Local 1000 that they expect to
begin issuing Form 204s for current employees who will be
receiving settlement checks. CDCR expects to begin issuing
the Form 204s by the end of the month. Once employees
complete and sign the Form 204, CDCR will process their
settlement check.
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 presses state for more information & options for
affected members
On June 30, California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS)
gave notice to employees of potential impacts resulting from
revised prison medical staffing in the 2014-15 state budget. The
memo states that “some institutions will gain staff and others
will experience staff reductions.”
“We are committed to fighting for our members and the best
patient care as the state restructures the prison health care
system,” said Kim Cowart, chair of Bargaining Unit 17.
Local 1000-sponsored legislation to ban the unsafe practice of
mandatory overtime, for nurses and nursing assistants, has passed
the state Assembly and is now before the state Senate.
The Assembly vote on AB 2155 came after a determined campaign
spearheaded by Local 1000 nurses who work in prisons and mental
hospitals. Frustrated by frequent double shifts and callbacks
without proper rest, the nurses organized in support of the bill
and took their message to the Assembly.
Nurses working at the Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
and the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) are raising concerns
about risks to patient care and the status of their license.
Local 1000 is launching a “scope of practice” survey on June 16
that will lead to closer examination of workplace issues
affecting registered and licensed vocational nurses. The results
of the survey will guide future efforts by Local 1000 to advocate
for quality patient care through upward mobility and enhanced
clinical supervision.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) has implemented the Realignment Wave 5 layoff process. The
layoff date will be effective September 30, 2014. CDCR sent over
800 SROA letters out to Local 1000 members across the
state.
Thanks to contract enforcement by Local 1000, nearly 550
Registered Dental Assistants (RDAs) at the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will receive lump sum
settlements ranging from $1,750 to $3,500.
CDCR stopped paying a $100 monthly RDA differential in November
of 2007, after a side letter negotiated with CDCR provided salary
increases for dental assistants–although the provision in our
contract governing the differential remained unchanged.
Local 1000 is fighting to ban the unpopular practice of mandatory
overtime, and is asking nurses and nursing assistants at prisons
and mental hospitals throughout California to send in their
stories of how mandatory overtime affects them and their
patients.
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.
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).
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.
Between April 29 and May 10, more than 100 Bargaining Update
Meetings are scheduled at worksites all over California to inform
members about our bargaining progress. Our bargaining team
members are working hard to build upon our previously hard-fought
contract wins by strengthening employee rights and benefits,
providing additional compensation and improving our medical
coverage.
