Allen Receives Recognition

Monday, September 14, 2009

ORLANDO, FL - At the 2009 Public Employee Leadership Conference, Senior Labor Representative Steve Allen received a well deserved recognition from LiUNA Vice President Rocco Davis and LiUNA General President Terence M. O’Sullivan. Allen shared his recognition with giving credit to PED Director Bob Purcell, Business Manager Chris Darker and “most importantly” his wife Debbie Allen who also attended the awards. Allen began Local 792 in 1995 as Business Manager but soon realized his expertise and enjoyment came from collective bargaining and not union administration. Allen thanked Darker for allowing him to pursue what he loves which is negotiations.
Photo: LiUNA Vice President Rocco Davis, LiUNA General President Terence O’Sullivan, Steve Allen, LiUNA General Secretary-Treasurer Armand Sabitoni

Labor Leader to receive Regional Award and Recognition

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

REDDING - The United Public Employees of California, Local 792 announced today that Senior Labor Relations Representative Steve Allen was chosen by the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) to receive the Pacific Southwest Regional Leadership Award recognizing his record of service and dedication to the International Union and members of UPEC Local 792.
LIUNA International General President Terrence M. O’Sullivan will present the award at the LIUNA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida on September 12th.
Allen is one of the founders of the United Public Employees of California and opened an office in Redding, California in 1995.
The Pacific Southwest Region includes California, Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii.

Annual Member Picnic Set

MONTEREY - LIUNA/UPEC Local 792 members are invited to the Annual Family Summer Bar-B-Q that been scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009, at Casanova-Oak Knoll Community Center from 11:00am -4:00pm. The Community Center is located at 735 Ramona Avenue in Monterey. The food and drinks are provided by UPEC and participating area associations. Flyers announcing the event were mailed to area members this week.
There will be a bounce house and games for children.
Business Manager Chris Darker is encouraging members to attend and meet their area Labor Representative Dave Ritchie. “We are putting together a line-up of UPEC Representatives and Executive Board members to attend and meet our members”, said Darker. Labor Representative’s Steve Allen, Mike Lyon, Rick Burruss and Cinamon Pitts and UPEC Executive Board President Mike Cottone and Board members Steve Suske, Paul Mullet, Holly Pearson, and Paul Hohn will be attending. “This will be a great opportunity for our new members in Monterey to meet our Local leaders all at one time”, said Darker.

Leadership Seminar Set for Oct 29th

REDDING - Business Manager Chris Darker announced today that an 8 hour leadership training has been set for Thursday, October 29, 2009 from 8:30am - 5:00pm in Redding. The training is provided by Pointman Leadership Institute (PLI). PLI has been in existence since 1993 and was founded by former Los Angeles Police Department,Assistant Police Chief Robert L. Vernon. The seminar titled “Principle Based Leadership - the importance of ethics” recently changed the title to Foundations: Powerful Leadership and Character will be taught this year by former Monterey Police Chief Gary Brown. The training is excellent and the principles can be applied to your employment, union work and family.
The UPEC Executive Board adopted PLI and the guiding eight character traits and applied it to their local leadership in their service to the members and communities they serve. These traits have been printed in the UPEC Member Handbook, page 3. Every elected UPEC Board member and appointed staff are required to attend the training. Business Manager Chris Darker volunteers for PLI and has taught in a few of the 50 Countries world-wide where the PLI seminars have been introduced. Darker will assist with the training along with Retired Reno Police Detective Dan Myers on October 29th. The training is free to UPEC members and costs $99.00 for non-members. For additional information, contact the UPEC office.

Ritchie Assigned to South Bay Area

REDDING HQ - Business Manager Chris Darker announced today that Labor Representative III Dave Ritchie has been assigned to the South Bay area bargaining units effective September 1st. Ritchie has worked for UPEC since 2002 as a Labor Relations Representative. Dave has a law degree from the University of Manitoba and is currently completing education requirements to practice law in California at Santa Clara University Law School. Ritchie is also assigned to the Federal sector units in San Francisco. “Dave has done an excellent job representing our public employee members in CIty, County and Federal sectors and has moved up quickly in our organization”, said Darker. Dave replaces Labor Relations Representative Rick Burruss who was hired on a two year plan to assist with the transition of 16 bargaining units from LIUNA Local 270 to UPEC Local 792.’s. Burruss facilitated several meetings with all of the south bay units in July and August to introduce Ritchie and pave the way for a smooth transition. “Rick did a great job representing our members. I am glad Rick was there to pull out of retirement to help with the transition”, said Darker. Ritchie will be attending the Barbeque in Monterey on October 3rd to meet with members informally. He can be reached on his cell phone (voice or text) at 530-604-4874 or by calling the office at 800-241-1890.

NLRB orders Shasta Regional to give employees their Severance Pay

Friday, August 28, 2009

REDDING - In a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dated August 24, 2009, the former owners of Shasta Regional must pay its unit employees their contractually-required severance payments.
The United Public Employees of California (UPEC) Local 792 filed several charges against the former hospital owners in November 2008 for violating their agreement with the Registered Nurse and the LVN/Technician units. 
Chris Darker, Business Manager for United Public Employees of California said, “We (UPEC) expected to get a favorable decision in this matter on behalf of SRMC employees unfortunately, I don’t think this will be settled anytime soon”. The former owners filed bankruptcy in Federal Court in September 2008.
In May 2009, UPEC also won another wage matter plus penalties on behalf of former SRMC Nurse Angela Eckelman through the Department of Industrial Relations. Eckelman had not been paid all of her wages by the former employer HPA. 
UPEC reached a settlement with SRMC’s new owners, Prime Healthcare Inc. in late February of this year and is representing the LVN/Technical Unit.